Controlled Fires and Source Control
I deleted a big chunk of code recently. It was written months ago and just wasn’t in use, so it needed to go. There’s always an emotional attachment to code, though, so deleting it is like burning up your old love letters. You know you should probably do it, but you’re conflicted and it’s painful.
I bet the people who set off controlled forest fires have a similar feeling. They have to burn down trees and fauna that they helped create. But you’ve got to toss out the old to make room for the new.
Luckily, though, there’s source control! You can delete whatever you want and it will still be in your revision history. You’ll never go back and restore deleted code, but knowing that you could helps you do what’s necessary.
As I write this, I remember that there’s a whole namespace in XobniCommon that needs to die. I’ll take care of that tomorrow.
September 6th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
This is a really good point Adam.
Pre-source-control, I had the habit of commenting out huge swaths of code, in case (in hopes?) they would be needed again one day.
With most of my projects now in source control, I can be freer to remove elements that aren’t being used, safe in the knowledge I can restore them as needed later on. This makes my source more concise and efficient.
Sometimes I wish my room had source control. I need a limitless trashcan to consume all the clutter I’m no longer using, but with the option to restore if and when I need. It would have also come in handy last week when I stepped on my prized RC airplane. The previous version was better.