Famous Examples
Netscape's project to improve HTML layout in Navigator 4 has been cited as an example of a failed rewrite. The new layout engine (Gecko) had developed independently from Navigator and did not integrate readily with Navigator's code; hence Navigator itself was rewritten around the new engine, breaking many existing features and delaying release by several months. Meanwhile Microsoft focused on incremental improvements to Internet Explorer and did not face the same obstacles. Ironically, Navigator itself was a successful cleanroom rewrite of NCSA Mosaic overseen by that program's developers. See Browser wars.
The Linux kernel has also been described as a successful rewrite (albeit to very different specifications) starting from Minix.
Read more about this topic: Rewrite (programming)
Famous quotes containing the words famous and/or examples:
“All film directors, whether famous or obscure, regard themselves as misunderstood or underrated. Because of that, they all lie. They’re obliged to overstate their own importance.”
—François Truffaut (1932–1984)
“No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)