Complete Rewrite
Complete Rewrite is a software development approach where an existing system or application is entirely rebuilt from scratch, discarding the old codebase. It involves re-implementing all functionality, often with modern technologies, improved architecture, and better practices. This is typically undertaken to address technical debt, outdated dependencies, or scalability issues that make incremental changes impractical.
Developers should consider a Complete Rewrite when maintaining legacy code becomes too costly, risky, or slow, such as with systems built on obsolete frameworks or with poor documentation. It is useful for modernizing applications to leverage new technologies, improve performance, or enable new features that the old architecture cannot support. However, it requires careful planning due to high costs, time investment, and risks of introducing new bugs.