Terence Tao ports two dozen dead Java applets to JavaScript in hours with a coding agent
Fields Medalist Terence Tao used an AI coding agent to port roughly two dozen of his long-abandoned Java applets, some over 20 years old, to working JavaScript in hours, and reports the agent introduced one minor bug while catching two pre-existing ones — a net wash on code quality. That result marks low-stakes legacy porting and visualization as work a developer can hand to an agent today, the same path Tao used to finally build a special-relativity spacetime visualizer he shelved in 1999.
Source: terrytao.wordpress.com ↗
the agent identified two bugs in the original code that I was not aware of, so it ended up being a net wash as far as code quality was concerned
Terence Tao
Why this matters
- → Legacy code revival now measured in hours instead of months of manual work
- → Demonstrates viable workflow for non-critical visualizations and educational tools
- → Fields Medalist validates AI coding agents for domain-specific mathematical software
Legacy code, instant refresh