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RantRe: British couple overjoyed at birth of second cloned puppy Pin
Duncan Edwards Jones28-Dec-15 22:54
professionalDuncan Edwards Jones28-Dec-15 22:54 
GeneralRe: British couple overjoyed at birth of second cloned puppy Pin
Marc Clifton29-Dec-15 9:03
mvaMarc Clifton29-Dec-15 9:03 
NewsCode Watch: Using deep neural networks as programming assistants Pin
Kent Sharkey28-Dec-15 11:10
staffKent Sharkey28-Dec-15 11:10 
NewsThe dark side of the coming chatbot revolution Pin
Kent Sharkey28-Dec-15 11:08
staffKent Sharkey28-Dec-15 11:08 
NewsRecently bought a Windows computer? Microsoft probably has your encryption key Pin
Kent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:50
staffKent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:50 
GeneralRe: Recently bought a Windows computer? Microsoft probably has your encryption key Pin
Daniel Pfeffer28-Dec-15 22:40
professionalDaniel Pfeffer28-Dec-15 22:40 
NewsRefactoring is a development technique, not a project Pin
Kent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:48
staffKent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:48 
GeneralRe: Refactoring is a development technique, not a project Pin
Duncan Edwards Jones28-Dec-15 10:21
professionalDuncan Edwards Jones28-Dec-15 10:21 
One of the things I have learnt in my journey through this industry (which may not be the typical path so should not be considered "evidence") is that source code rots.

In particular it rots when buried - i.e. when nobody is looking at it. A constant cycle of refactoring improves code by basically preventing any of it remaining buried for long enough to rot too badly.

Also - refactoring without testing is a bad idea (I hope commonly accepted as such?) so when you get developers refactoring they usually also add more unit tests. This is a good outcome.

Now I would also caution that there is a form of bias here because when a project is in a state that the project team have had to engage the services of a consultant who has a background in legacy project rescues it stands to reason that those projects will be more of a mess than the average and the less drastic solutions than a "massive cleanup effort" have probably already been tried..?
NewsThe App-ocalypse: Can Web standards make mobile apps obsolete? Pin
Kent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:47
staffKent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:47 
GeneralRe: The App-ocalypse: Can Web standards make mobile apps obsolete? Pin
James_Parsons1-Jan-16 15:51
James_Parsons1-Jan-16 15:51 
NewsDatabase configuration issues expose 191 million voter records Pin
Kent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:02
staffKent Sharkey28-Dec-15 8:02 
NewsDo not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Kent Sharkey27-Dec-15 11:57
staffKent Sharkey27-Dec-15 11:57 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
PIEBALDconsult27-Dec-15 12:10
mvePIEBALDconsult27-Dec-15 12:10 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Kent Sharkey27-Dec-15 12:11
staffKent Sharkey27-Dec-15 12:11 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
PIEBALDconsult27-Dec-15 12:14
mvePIEBALDconsult27-Dec-15 12:14 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Daniel Pfeffer27-Dec-15 20:20
professionalDaniel Pfeffer27-Dec-15 20:20 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job PinPopular
Marc Clifton27-Dec-15 15:31
mvaMarc Clifton27-Dec-15 15:31 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter27-Dec-15 22:16
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter27-Dec-15 22:16 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
#realJSOP28-Dec-15 2:19
professional#realJSOP28-Dec-15 2:19 
AnswerRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Anurag Gandhi28-Dec-15 2:12
professionalAnurag Gandhi28-Dec-15 2:12 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
#realJSOP28-Dec-15 2:18
professional#realJSOP28-Dec-15 2:18 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Daniel Pfeffer28-Dec-15 3:18
professionalDaniel Pfeffer28-Dec-15 3:18 
GeneralRe: Do not marry a language: selecting the correct language for the job Pin
Sander Rossel28-Dec-15 7:49
professionalSander Rossel28-Dec-15 7:49 
GeneralOT Pin
Brisingr Aerowing28-Dec-15 8:35
professionalBrisingr Aerowing28-Dec-15 8:35 
GeneralRe: OT Pin
#realJSOP29-Dec-15 2:52
professional#realJSOP29-Dec-15 2:52 

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