Rewrite

A rewrite is a harsh way to improve a software program, by scrapping the old source and replacing it with a better, cleaner or faster way.

Repeated rewrites are a serious menace to the success of the project, as they may indicate there is not a clear set goal or the developer is perfecting the game more than he should.

Project rewrite count

• Guardian Angel 3 rewrites
• GenRogue 11 rewrites
• Labyrinth of Reptoran 13 rewrites
• Middlecrest – 5 rewrites (first due to not understanding how to write complicated programs in C++, second was due to becoming increasingly difficult to add features from writing spaghetti code, the rest were stable but consisted of improvements to program structure, addition of useful design patterns, and lots of logging and testing capabilities)

Related

• Article by Joel Spolsky on rewrites