Name: Kill It with Fire
ISBN: 9781718501188

Kill It with Fire

Kill It with Fire chronicles the challenges of dealing with aging computer systems, along with sound modernization strategies. How to survive a legacy apocalypse “Kill it with fire,” the typical first reaction to a legacy system falling into obsolescence, is a knee-jerk approach that often burns through tons of money and time only to result in a less efficient solution. This book offers a far more forgiving modernization framework, laying out smart value-add strategies and proven techniques that work equally well for ancient systems and brand-new ones. Renowned for restoring some of the world’s oldest, messiest computer networks to operational excellence, software engineering expert Marianne Bellotti distills key lessons and insights from her experience into practical, research-backed guidance to help you determine when and how to modernize. With witty, engaging prose, Bellotti explains why new doesn’t always mean better, weaving in illuminating case studies and anecdotes from her work in the field.

What Hacker News says

jfl0Apr 2026

fwiw, Kleppmann sold his start up to LinkedIn and worked there on Kafka before writing DDIA!

Marianne Bellotti's Kill It with Fire is a quick but good read

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cpetersoDec 2024

On this subject, I recommend Marianne Bellotti‘s “Kill It with Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones)”. She has managed the maintenance and modernization of large legacy systems at the United States Digital Service. https://nostarch.com/kill-it-fire

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dankcoJan 2024

I like to recommend "Kill It With Fire" by Marianne Bellotti. It is full of insights far beyond managing legacy systems (as the subtitle would have you believe) and does a great job of analyzing the technology and the people/organizations who build it.

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thraxilDec 2023

Good article. I highly recommend the book "Kill it with Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (And Future Proof Modern Ones)" by Marianne Bellotti if you've ever had to deal with these kinds of legacy systems.

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cpetersoJan 2023

It’s not academic research, but I recommend Marianne Bellotti's "Kill It with Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones)" about modernization of legacy software systems and managing the teams maintaining these systems. The author worked at the United States Digital Service.

https://nostarch.com/kill-it-fire

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slk500Jan 2023

If first attempt to refactor was over-engineered. They same will happen with the the new stack. New tools won't resolve problems. Start deleting the code.

"We know, for example, that iterating on existing solutions is more likely to improve software than a full rewrite. The dangers of full rewrites have been documented. Joel Spolsky and Stack Overflow described them as “the single worst strategic mistake that any software company can make.” - Kill It with Fire - Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones) by Marianne Bellotti

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