Joel Spolsky once called it "the single worst strategic mistake that any software company can make", and not for nothing:

"When you throw away code and start from scratch, you are throwing away all that knowledge. All those collected bug fixes. Years of programming work."

Even twenty years into my career, despite understanding, both logically and from experience that a rewrite is a high-risk move with limited chance of success– I am still often tempted.

Coding assistants are making it more tantalizing than ever, and maybe, just maybe, even attainable.

I've been fascinated by Japan since I was a teenager. Thanks to Hayao Miyazaki (among others) the food, landscape, and architecture all exist in some dreamy, liminal space in my mind alongside wood sprites and lost civilizations.

Maybe it sounds daft, but the idea of actually visiting the country always seemed like it would break the spell somehow? Like anywhere, Japan has crime, social problems, bad weather, and if I go, me.