Reimplementing Technical Debt with State Machines - Code BEAM

Explore the challenges and solutions of reimplementing technical debt in extensible protocol implementations through a conference talk delivered at Code BEAM Europe 2023. Dive into the journey of transforming a decade-old, intractable codebase into a more manageable and extensible system using state machines. Learn how the speakers tackled the complexities of their chat backend service by developing a prototype based on OTP's gen_statem behaviour, creating a new core set of extensible rules. Discover the process of combining old code, RFCs, state machines, and a telemetry-like event mechanism to solve the quagmire of technical debt. Gain insights into effective strategies for modernizing legacy systems and improving code maintainability in long-term projects.