Rework or start again- which is best?

[mrf1xa]

Hi folks, a general question to call upon your many years of experience if I may.

I am bout to start work on two farily large projects. There are distinct elements of stuff I have done before in both, so i am tempted to start with a copy of a previous successful project and modify. However, I have this nagging feeling that it will get more and more complicated as I go and i may end up wishing I had started from scratch and just copied code sections etc.

I'm sure some of you have been here before- which way did you go and how did it work out?

Thanks

Nigel
Didn't someone say work is supposed to be fun? They didn't have computers then I guess....

 

[jrbarnett]

Nigel,

I would start from scratch, but if there are reusable code routines that you can use with little or no modification from previous work - and your contract with former client permits this - then by all means use them.
If the contract doesn't permit them, I would rewrite them without looking at the original code - that way, there is no legitimate way that accusations of using other clients work that they have paid for to gain from this contract.

John

 

[MakeItSo]

Start from scratch.
Often, projects are less alike than you primarily suspected. Plus: The larger and the more complicated a project is, the more important it gets, that you have absolutely clean code!
I am in a fairly similar situation: I have started to improve and extend an existing db. However, the former programmer had a very....errr..long-winded... style. Plus: he didn't talk to much to/with the client and so he didn#t really understand and thus not match the needs.

Now I'm cursing and swearing upon not having just set up a new db and then simply import the values from the tables...

So, before this happens: - better set-up a clean db.

Greetings,
Andy

Andreas Galambos
EDP / Technical Support Specialist
(andreas.galambos@bowneglobal.de)
HP:

http://home.arcor.de/andygalambos

 

[mrf1xa]

OK, many thanks for the responses, you have both confirmed what I suspected so I am now starting my new DB!

Nigel
Didn't someone say work is supposed to be fun? They didn't have computers then I guess....

 

[CajunCenturion]

Not so fast on starting over.

This decision may business aspects and legal aspects in addition to the technical ones.

jrbarnett has alread touched on the legal issues, and I have nothing to add, except to reinforce that you be fully aware of these issue.

From the business standpoint, which approach will be more expensive in the short term and in the long term? Weigh that against the expected life-span of the project. Which approach leads to the fastest delivery times? In summary, which approach will be more profitable?

From a technical standpoint, every app will get more and more complicated, whether you start from scratch or not. The question is how close of a fit do you have from your inventory of existing projects at your starting point?

Given what is known at this point, I see too may factors that may be in play to made a recommendation, other than to evaluation these factors before making your decision. Even then, the answer may not be clear cut, and you'll have to make a subjective judgement. In that case, Trust Your Instincts[/b].

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[mrf1xa]

Thanks for the additional response.

I am lucky in some ways in that I don't have any legal issues to worry about- the new project and the old are for the same co, as I am employed by them.

My issue was this. I am not an expert in this field by any means- I would regard myself as perhaps competent in most areas of Access, but lacking in experience delivering large projects. So, whilst I can look at what I need to do and believe that it can be achieved by reusing significant chunks of my last project, I don't have the experience of having done this before. Hence my request for input- those of you with more experience can probably say 'it always seems like it will work but ususally turns out to more trouble than its worth...' or whatever.

At the end of the day, as you say, I guess the only real way to make the decision is to compare the level of work I THINK will be needed to change one to the time needed to build a new one, with a healthy level of guesswork thrown in as I am too new at this to be accurate!

Cheers

Nigel
Didn't someone say work is supposed to be fun? They didn't have computers then I guess....