Episode 41: Rewrites from a Manager's Perspective with Ryan Cowan

In this episode, Isaac Askew interviews Ryan Cowan, a software engineering manager, about the perspective of managers on rewrites. They discuss the challenges of placating individual engineers who want to rewrite code, the role of managers in supporting engineers' ideas, and the frequency and success of large rewrites. Ryan shares a case study of data engineers rewriting a data pipeline and highlights the importance of understanding the root cause of concerns before deciding on a rewrite. They also discuss the difference between refactoring and rewriting and the expectations engineers have from their managers.

Takeaways:

• Managers play a crucial role in supporting engineers' ideas for rewrites and refactors.

• Large rewrites are infrequent and often require significant buy-in from senior leadership.

• The distinction between refactoring and rewriting is important, with refactoring being more focused on improving existing code and rewriting involving significant changes to the entire system.