Building Applications
That Last
Voxxed Days Singapore 2018
Kris Howard aka @web_goddess

⚠
"

December 1996

December 1996

6 months

2 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

4 years

4.5 years

5 years

5 years

5 years

Fast forward 14 years…

19 years

So what to do?

LEGACY
CODEBASE
#

Legacy Software
$ Rewrite it completely $
OR
⛵ Incremental redevelopment ⛵

Why to Rewrite
• The code is a mess.
• The application is slow.
• The code is ugly.
• We’ll get it right this time!
• We picked the wrong platform.

Characteristics
• Ability to evolve over time
• Separation of concerns
• Use of standard languages
• Minimising of dependencies
• Simple, readable code
• Fault-tolerance and fast recovery

Back to my story…

Wordpress?

Best practices
• Coding standards and code reviews
• Static analysis tools
• Defensive programming

Best practices
• Coding standards and code reviews
• Static analysis tools
• Defensive programming
• Property-based testing

Best practices
• Coding standards and code reviews
• Static analysis tools
• Defensive programming
• Property-based testing
• The Campsite Rule
• Documentation

Thanks!
@RoaldDahlFans
roalddahlfans.com
Kris Howard
@web_goddess
web-goddess.org