Rewrite From Scratch vs Strangler Fig Pattern
Developers should consider a rewrite when the existing codebase has become unmaintainable due to accumulated technical debt, uses obsolete technologies, or has architectural flaws that hinder scalability and new feature development meets developers should use this pattern when they need to modernize a large, monolithic legacy application that is difficult to maintain or scale, but cannot be replaced all at once due to business continuity requirements. Here's our take.
Rewrite From Scratch
Developers should consider a rewrite when the existing codebase has become unmaintainable due to accumulated technical debt, uses obsolete technologies, or has architectural flaws that hinder scalability and new feature development
Rewrite From Scratch
Nice PickDevelopers should consider a rewrite when the existing codebase has become unmaintainable due to accumulated technical debt, uses obsolete technologies, or has architectural flaws that hinder scalability and new feature development
Pros
- +It is particularly useful for legacy systems where the original design no longer aligns with current business requirements or modern development practices, allowing for a cleaner, more efficient implementation
- +Related to: refactoring, technical-debt-management
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Strangler Fig Pattern
Developers should use this pattern when they need to modernize a large, monolithic legacy application that is difficult to maintain or scale, but cannot be replaced all at once due to business continuity requirements
Pros
- +It is particularly useful in scenarios where the legacy system is critical to operations, allowing teams to incrementally refactor or rebuild components while keeping the overall system functional
- +Related to: microservices, refactoring
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Rewrite From Scratch if: You want it is particularly useful for legacy systems where the original design no longer aligns with current business requirements or modern development practices, allowing for a cleaner, more efficient implementation and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Strangler Fig Pattern if: You prioritize it is particularly useful in scenarios where the legacy system is critical to operations, allowing teams to incrementally refactor or rebuild components while keeping the overall system functional over what Rewrite From Scratch offers.
Developers should consider a rewrite when the existing codebase has become unmaintainable due to accumulated technical debt, uses obsolete technologies, or has architectural flaws that hinder scalability and new feature development
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