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by buffalobuffalo 739 days ago
I think one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in software engineering is that you can write entire projects with the express plan of rewriting them if they actually gain traction. If I want to prototype something these days, I will often write code that, while not quite spaghetti, would definitely not pass a proper code review. It's actually kind of fun. Almost like a cheat day on a diet or something.
1 comments

Unfortunately, that rewrite step often doesn't happen. I can't count the number of times a prototype that was meant to be thrown away was actually put into production because "it's cheaper and faster than rewriting."
"There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution that works"

I have no idea who said that, but I use it a lot at work when people want to cut corners with the intent to fix it later.

>I can't count the number of times a prototype that was meant to be thrown away was actually put into production because "it's cheaper and faster than rewriting."

Did the business make money, though? I think that's the law of the jungle

I’m working on a prototype now but I deliberately made it run entirely in the browser (indexeddb) to avoid the problem that I might be asked to put it in production!
Yeah, there is that. I guess this comes with the caveat that you have to have enough say in the project that you can mandate a rewrite.
"Phase 2 never happens"