I've "rewrote" a lot of code in my career. I'm putting "rewrote" in quotes, because it was sometimes porting from unmaintained programs in obsolete platforms to something more modern (sometimes without even being able to run them), and other times by doing large-scale refactoring that left the codebase almost unrecognizable.
While I agree with #1, that "offensive" code is offensive for a reason (no time, no experience, no tooling, no hindsight), I don't really agree with point #2. With enough hindsight and careful study, it is entirely possible to avoid the offensive characteristics while doing the same thing.
IMO: bad code is often due to accidental complexity, often brought in by the programmers themselves. And very rarely due to essential complexity.
Your examples are excellent reasons to do a rewrite. Rewriting code is not always the wrong decision. But in the main, when it seems that a rewrite is warranted, it's a good idea to think long, hard, and objectively about why it seems like a good idea.
> With enough hindsight and careful study, it is entirely possible to avoid the offensive characteristics while doing the same thing.
You're right. I should have been more expansive. The rewrite may not reproduce the same issue (although the odds are good you'll see what the issue was!), but it will have its own issues, and is also likely to eventually also become "offensive" code that a future dev will have the urge to rewrite.
I use the word "offensive" here in a technical sense, not in a judgmental sense. Great code can become offensive with time as requirements, environments, and development methodologies change.
The main thing is that rewriting code is very expensive in both the monetary and risk sense. In the end, it's a question of cost/benefit. If the benefit of a rewrite is less than the cost, then rewriting is the wrong decision.
> bad code is often due to accidental complexity, often brought in by the programmers themselves.
Yes, I agree. And the majority of it turned out bad because of maintenance. Too much duct tape and bubble gum has accumulated over time.
While I agree with #1, that "offensive" code is offensive for a reason (no time, no experience, no tooling, no hindsight), I don't really agree with point #2. With enough hindsight and careful study, it is entirely possible to avoid the offensive characteristics while doing the same thing.
IMO: bad code is often due to accidental complexity, often brought in by the programmers themselves. And very rarely due to essential complexity.