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I agree with you on the value proposition consideration.

"If you have that ability"

I think I specifically called out the danger of the average developer rewriting code because they don't understand it.

But If you DO understand the code base and you do have the time/resources/vision you can rewrite as a form of radical refactoring, taking the lessons learned over the original development and compressing them into a newer system that allows some kind of business expansion/pivot/innovation.

Yes all change requires risk but there is risk in not changing as well.

Companies go under just as often from NOT rewriting or NOT building something new/better.

If you don't truly understand the whole system and you don't have a business case for what your new system would do then DON'T rewrite.

On the flip side, if you DO understand a 20million+ line codebase of your company's web app and you know you could rewrite it all yourself/with a small team and make it 10x better then definitely don't waste time arguing with your boss about whether refactoring is a good idea.

Quit and start your own company because you've identified a massive inefficiency in the market to exploit.



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