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The Rewrite Trap
Every engineering team hits this moment. The codebase is a mess. The architecture is wrong. The technology stack is outdated.
Someone says “Let’s just rewrite it.”
Everyone nods. Finally, a chance to do it right.
Six months later, you’re behind schedule. The old system still has bugs. The new system is missing features. And you’ve spent half a million dollars.
Why Rewrites Fail
The statistics are brutal. Most rewrites:
- Take 2-3x longer than estimated
- Cost 2-3x more than budgeted
- Replicate bugs from the old system
- Miss critical edge cases
- Underestimate the business logic complexity
The old system might be ugly, but it works. It handles cases you forgot existed. It has workarounds for problems you don’t remember.
The Alternative
Instead of rewriting everything, fix the biggest problem. Then fix the next one. Then the next one.
This is harder. It requires discipline. You don’t get the clean slate. You don’t get the new tech stack.
But you ship. You improve. You measure results.
When a Rewrite Makes Sense
Sometimes you really do need to start over:
- The technology is end-of-life
- The architecture can’t support the business model
- The cost of change exceeds the cost of rebuilding
- You’re migrating to a fundamentally different platform
But even then, do it incrementally. Extract one service at a time. Run both systems in parallel. Prove the value before going all-in.
The Bottom Line
The big bang rewrite is a bet-the-company move. Most companies can’t afford to lose that bet.
Fix what hurts. Measure the improvement. Repeat. It’s not glamorous. But it works.