[dudul]

"legacy code runs the business". While I do agree with this general comment, I've also seen legacy code killing the business.

I've seen legacy code so buggy that it couldn't be fixed, that new features required quarters to be added, that customer service team had to double size every year to help customers with their bad experience.

When legacy code is not properly maintained, it can become this unescapable hell. Yes, it sort of works but at what cost?

[jrjarrett]

I read this article and I have to disagree with one of the major premises that "no one wants to own legacy code" -- it's more that in a lot of organizations, you're not ALLOWED to own legacy code.

What I mean is that you may want to take "ownership" in the sense of learning it and improving it but because it's not new development, large barriers to paying down technical debt and updating to newer development methodologies is disallowed.

So it stays, untouched, bit-rotted, and inflexible.