[bluGill]

> during code review.

There is the problem - code reviews are done by humans and so it is really easy to read some code and not think "wait this is new code it can't do that anymore". I read a lot of old code as part of my job and it often isn't worth the bother to update working code to new standards.

> it's a lot harder to justify avoiding new features than it is to justify avoiding old features

The problem is the opposite - people keep using old features when the new is better. I realize not everything new is better, but most of them are, yet people keep refusing to learn and use the new thing without good justification.

[CuriousCosmic]

> The problem is the opposite - people keep using old features when the new is better. I realize not everything new is better, but most of them are, yet people keep refusing to learn and use the new thing without good justification.

I think we are saying the same thing here. Often the new is better so it's hard to really justify sticking to the old outside of project specific reasons (i.e. toolchain doesn't support new std). That people do it has less to do with justification and more to do with time commitment or laziness and the excuses given tend to fall away once pressed.