Anticlue

Never Delete Anything

I'm a technological pack rat. I highly recommend to anyone to never delete anything. Hard Disk space is cheap, keep copies.

For instance, if you are making changes to a db, keep a copy of the db somewhere with the date in the name. Then in the db, keep a copy of the object you are modifying with the date in the name, and modify away. Yes, i know it is redundant. But if push comes to shove, I like having more than one backup system.

If you are moving code live, keep a copy of the original code with the date in the file name.

If you are building an app, don't delete the data. Archive it so the user doesn't see. Maybe have an validity attribute on the table, or an archive table with the history. And a field for the date Archived.

If you have a file interface with a file verifying what was sent. Keep copies of what you sent, and what they say the got with the date in the name when you recieved it.

If you have a server recovery plan, have an image, a backup, and copies of the key configuration files.

Why do I keep copies? Well, issues normally don't crop up overnight, sometimes they crop up in instances over the years. It is easier to research an issue, and find out what occurred, if you have the copies. Also if you are in a recovery mode, its nice to have more than one mechanism to rebuild. In case the first one doesn't work.