Refactoring gets really bad reviews, but from where I’m sitting as a hobby programmer in relative ignorance it seems like it should be easier, because you could potentially reuse a lot of code. Can someone break it down for me?
I’m thinking of a situation where the code is ugly but still legible here. I completely understand that actual reverse engineering is harder than coding on a blank slate.
Refactoring is always easier.
Both methods really need acceptance tests before you can start, but with refactoring you at least have a working system for the duration of development.