For projects where the estimated rewrite duration exceeds three months, we have employed an iterative approach to refactoring for several years. This methodology has yielded pretty good results.
We also utilize a series of Bash scripts designed to monitor the refactoring process. These scripts collect data regarding the utilization of both the old and new "state" within the codebase. The collected data is then dumped in Grafana, providing us with a clear overview of our progress.
An example: “Are We ESMified Yet?” is a Mozilla dashboard tracking an incremental Firefox code migration (1.5 years and counting) from a Mozilla-specific "JSM" JavaScript module system to the standard ECMAScript Module "ESM" system. Current ESMification: 96.69%.
“Are We X Yet?” is a Mozilla meme for dashboards like this.
I saw the phrase “are we X yet” used in the Rust community (is Rust ready for games or whatever) but never realised the phrase’s origin with Mozilla. Thank you for the little piece of history.
“Are We Meta Yet?” http://www.arewemetayet.com/ is an incomplete and outdated list of some of these dashboards. Some domains expired and are now squatted.
If you have scripts that can count uses of the deprecated code, you can use them to detect regressions and generate build warnings if someone adds new code using the deprecated code. Periodically you can decrease the script’s max use counter, ratcheting down until you hit zero uses.
Oh, the idea of tracking the state of the refactoring process with small scripts is very cool. Obvious in retrospective too. These scripts would be useful even if they're only like 90% correct.
We also utilize a series of Bash scripts designed to monitor the refactoring process. These scripts collect data regarding the utilization of both the old and new "state" within the codebase. The collected data is then dumped in Grafana, providing us with a clear overview of our progress.