Code migration involves moving programming code from one system to another. There are three levels of migration: simple, switching to a newer version; more complicated, switching to a different language; and the most complex, switching to a new platform or operating system. Regardless of the type of migration, proper planning and documentation are essential for success.
Code migration is the movement of programming code from one system to another. There are three distinct levels of code migration with increasing complexity, cost, and risk. Simple migration involves switching the language to a newer version. A second more complicated level of migration involves switching to a different programming language. Migrating to a completely new platform or operating system is the most complex type of migration.
The first type of code migration is a simple switch from one version of a language to a newer, but syntactically different version. This is the easiest migration path since the basic structure and many of the programming constructs usually don’t change. In many cases, the old code would actually work, but new and improved routines or modularization can be improved by reorganizing the code to fit the nature of the new language. Thus, code migration would lead to more efficient execution.
The second level of code migration would be migrating to a completely different programming language. This could be caused by porting to a new software system or implementing a different relational database management system (RDMS). This type of migration often requires programmers to learn an entirely new language or bring in new programmers to assist with the migration. In this case, the whole program has to be rewritten from scratch. While most of the constructs are likely to exist in both languages, the precise syntax is usually completely different.
The most complex example of code migration is migrating to a completely new platform and/or operating system (OS). This not only changes the programming language, but also the machine code behind the language. While most modern programming languages protect the programmer from this low-level code, knowledge of the operating system and how it works is essential to producing code that is efficient and runs as intended.
Regardless of the type of migration, the approach should be the same. The migration team or programmer should break down each module, function and sub-routine into its purpose and draw the program flow diagram. This is a reverse engineering of the original software development lifecycle (SDLC). Once these modules and functions have been mapped out to their high-level purpose, they can be rewritten and compartmentalized tested in the new language. Like any advanced computer programming project, proper planning and documentation is the key to a successful code migration.
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