Rewriting Quote by Edmond Lau
““Their first task therefore, was to translate the original C# codebase into Java so that it could leverage Google's infrastructure. One of Schillace's co-founders argued that they ought to rewrite the parts of the codebase they didn't like at the same time. After all, why rewrite the codebase to Java only to have to immediately throw parts away? Schillace fought hard against that logic, saying, "We're not doing that because we'll get lost. Step one is translate to Java and get it stood back up on it's feet again ... [O]nce it's working again in Java, step two is ... go refactor and rewrite stuff that's bugging you.””
About This Quote
Source Article: Tech blog post, 2015
The team chooses to translate code to Java first, then refactor, to avoid losing progress and manage risk.
In simple terms: Translate before rewriting to keep momentum.
Key Takeaway
Translate, then refactor.
Themes
software development
risk management
migration
Mood
pragmatic
cautious
Type
technical
process-oriented
When to use this quote
- legacy system upgrade
- team coordination
- project planning
Key Concepts
incremental migration
technical debt
Questions to Reflect On
- What if translation introduces new bugs?
- How to balance speed and code quality?
