REVERSE AND RE-ENGINEERING

Re-engineering is commonly, but incorrectly, used in reference to reverse engineering. While both refer to the further investigation or engineering of finished products, the methods of doing so, and the desired outcomes, are vastly different. Reverse engineering attempts to discover how something works, while re-engineering seeks to improve a current design by investigating particular aspects of it. Unlike reverse engineering takes a finished product with the aim of discovering how it works by testing it. Typically this is done by companies that seek to infiltrate a competitor's market or understand its new product. In doing so they can produce new products while allowing the original creator to pay all the development costs and take all the risks involved with creating a new product.