> If it takes a long time to track down, then it should either be sidelined, or the design needs to be revisited.

I don't get this. Either you give up on the bug after a day, or you throw out the entire codebase and start over?

Sure, if the bug is low severity and I don't have a reproduction, I will ignore it. But there are bad bugs that are not understood and can take a lot more than a day to look into, such as by adding telemetry to help track it down.

Yes, it is usually the case that tracking it down is harder than fixing. But there are also cases where the larger system makes some broad assumptions which are not true, and fixing is tricky. It is not usually an option to throw out the entire system and start over each time this happens in a project.

> you throw out the entire codebase and start over

Nah. That’s called “catastrophic thinking.” This is why it’s important (in my experience) to back off, and calm down.

I’ll usually find a way to manage a smaller part of the codebase.

If I make decisions when I’m stressed, Bad Things Happen.