Originally legacy code meant code 'inherited' from authors or from a previous program/system version. Since Michael Feathers published his "Working Effectively with Legacy Code" book, new definition came to be, where code without tests is legacy code.
24
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4answers
3k views
What is the origin of the negative term “Legacy Code”
Everyone talks about legacy code in software development and I have heard the term over the last ten years used to paint any codebase as a POS. Where did this term, which has such powerful ...
4
votes
4answers
253 views
How to avoid excessive method overloading?
We have quite a lot of places in the source code of our application , where one class has many methods with same names and different parameters. Those methods always have all the parameters of a ...
8
votes
5answers
697 views
Why write tests for code that I will refactor?
I am refactoring a huge legacy code class. Refactoring (I presume) advocates this:
write tests for the legacy class
refactor the heck out of the class
Problem: once I refactor the class, my ...
19
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there an anti pattern for historically grown software? [closed]
Is there an anti pattern that describes a historically grown software system where multiple developers just added new features to the system but no one really kept an eye on the overall architecture ...
62
votes
10answers
4k views
Does it make sense to write tests for legacy code when there is no time for a complete refactoring?
I usually try to follow the advice of the book Working Effectively with Legacy Code. I break dependencies, move parts of the code to @VisibleForTesting public static methods and to new classes to make ...
0
votes
0answers
385 views
How to integrate unit testing process into legacy software development process? [duplicate]
I'd like you to share your insights of how have you successfully turned the direction of rotting legacy code base to modular application design where it's easy and useful to add unit tests?
What I'm ...
3
votes
3answers
415 views
Effective way to estimate dead code removal?
I've been working in an application with about 100k LOCs and basically We have been reworking features to comply with a new architecture based on a new technology stack. This work is almost finished ...
2
votes
1answer
244 views
How to find classes that use certain DB tables
Problem:
I'm asked to prepare a document where all our DB tables are listed and I'm supposed to list all Controllers that uses these DB tables for read and another list for Controllers that do write ...
12
votes
5answers
908 views
Does dealing with legacy code help one evolve as a programmer?
I'm a Java developer with a bit more than a year of experience which places me somewhere above a junior, but not among mid-level developers yet. Recently I was offered a long-term project which is ...
6
votes
4answers
487 views
I have 200k lines of poorly designed code, will units tests or integration tests be more valuable? [duplicate]
I've inherited a lot of poorly designed code; the code has no tests. I am putting tests in place before I attempt a major refactor, but I have run into a problem with my unit tests.
The problem is, I ...
6
votes
6answers
494 views
Painfully Stupid Method Names in Legacy Code: Fix or Leave as Warning? [duplicate]
For this case let's assume something like... "removedNonPriceChangingConfermations" that is in no way relating to things that happened in the past tense, nor does it return a list of removed items ...
2
votes
0answers
42 views
How to document legacy code (shell scripts)? [duplicate]
I got involved into a project where we are taking over a bunch of legacy code. Code is basically shell scripts and PL/SQL packages/procedures/functions. There is no documentation how the code works ...
1
vote
4answers
184 views
How Much Of A (Broken) Legacy Framework To Keep [duplicate]
I've inherited a hosted system (system "A") which can be used to manage products, inventory, and orders, and can send those products to various third-parties.
Quite simply, system "A" doesn't work. ...
12
votes
5answers
941 views
What to do as a Dev when for years their team has lacked product innovation, not used project mgmt methodologies, and kept bad Software Dev practices? [closed]
I am interested in knowing how to deal with a current software development process that has not been changed for years and will eventually lead to product and team failure. Yes, probably the easier ...
2
votes
1answer
537 views
How much poor quality code should a junior put up with? [duplicate]
I am a junior developer who has been working at a new job for a few weeks. I am working with a large framework for scientific desktop software, adding pieces of functionality. While there are general ...
268
votes
20answers
62k views
How should I behave as a developer in a project that's headed for failure?
I am a developer in a 5-member team and I believe our project is headed for disaster. I'll describe why in a moment, but my question is: how should I behave?
The deadline is in 1.5 months, and I ...
4
votes
4answers
711 views
What can I do to maintain respect for a poorly written codebase? [duplicate]
In my job I have to maintain a poorly written codebase which is both hard to understand, has tons of comments that are just plain wrong, has a bunch of weird decisionmaking going on in it and a whole ...
4
votes
5answers
350 views
Keep coding the wrong way to remain consistent? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Code maintenance: keeping a bad pattern when extending new code for being consistent, or not?
To keep things simple let's say I am responsible for maintaining two ...
5
votes
4answers
254 views
Version control implementation advice on legacy websites?
Assuming no experience with version control systems, just local to live web development. I've been dropped in on a few legacy website projects, and want an easier and more robust way to be able to ...
15
votes
11answers
4k views
How to make Classic ASP interesting if you are stuck with it?
I used to work on a really small outsourcing company (4 programmers and the boss), then when the stress and the frequent long shifts made the situation unbearable I made the switch to a better paid ...
