What's legacy code?

When speaking to one of the process engineers at a major company I consult for, I came upon a lovely notion regarding legacy code. We were talking about the perils of testing legacy code, and he turned and asked me
 
"Before we get started, do you know what 'Legacy Code' means? It's code that works".
Published Monday, June 06, 2005 1:42 AM by RoyOsherove
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Comments

Sunday, June 05, 2005 3:13 PM by TrackBack

# What's legacy code ?

Sunday, June 05, 2005 9:21 PM by Enrique Almeida

# re: What's legacy code?

Good definition!!. I like it.
Monday, June 06, 2005 1:02 PM by Bob Archer

# re: What's legacy code?

I always thought it was:

"Code that works, as long as you don't rouch it!!!"

BOb
Monday, June 06, 2005 8:15 PM by TrackBack

# OT: Definition for Legacy Code

OT: Definition for Legacy Code
Tuesday, June 07, 2005 5:05 PM by Mike

# re: What's legacy code?

Any code that is not supported by tests is legacy code. Michael Feathers said that I think. So, most people write legacy code every day.
Thursday, June 09, 2005 6:05 PM by Cold Chilli

# re: What's legacy code?

Legacy Code: Code the other guy wrote.