Wednesday, November 3, 2004

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Burying old code

It really bugs me when I find buried source code; large chunks of comments around old code that is not used anymore and will never be used again. It's just confusing. Delete the garbage and use a version control system to get the old code if you ever needed it again.


LexisNexis has a great idea for “taking care“ of old code; Programmers hold funerals for old code



DAYTON, Ohio - Among the tiny graves on Blocker Hill, the wind echoes with the tortured cries of computer programmers.  Beneath the eight grave markers, and perhaps in a rumored unmarked grave nearby, lie reams of paper printouts of code for software that has left this mortal operating system
The cemetery is a quirky tradition among the programmers at LexisNexis, which provides online legal and business information.  Rather than simply delete programs that are retired or replaced, they print them out for a proper send-off — not always with fond regards.

"Some things die gracefully and other things we've had to kill," Perseghetti said. He said workers had to "drive a stake" through the heart of a poorly performing program named CCI, which received an ignominious burial beneath an emblem of a pig.


I know several candidates that are in poor health and should be "taken care of" ASAP. I'll bring the garlic to make sure they never come back!

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