A legacy of conspiracy
Contrary to popular opinion, I have not been kidnapped, nor have I been hit on the head, nor have I started to seek that kind of job security.
I gave a talk about legacy code and refactoring, and I needed something concrete to talk about. Unfortunately, most legacy code is too intertwined to be able to extract out in order to talk about it in isolation. So I set out to write my own.
To all the people who assume that I don't live in the real world, or that I don't deal with legacy systems... well, I think that this code shows that I do know what is going out there.
And just to make it clear, no, I wouldn't write this type of code for any reason. Not for a spike or for a lark. But I think that this is a pretty good archeological fake, even if I say so myself.
Comments
That's interesting, actually, because something didn't seem quite right, when you looked at it another time. Indeed the intertwined-ness is what's lacking a bit. Apart from that, nice work!
PS
You remember that spreadhseet making you guess fake boobs / real boobs? A quite nerdy contest would be with fake legacy / real legacy...
This subject has been masterful covered by this Jolt award winner:
'Working Effectively with Legacy Code' by Michael Feathers.
http://www.amazon.com/Working-Effectively-Legacy-Robert-Martin/dp/0131177052/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1220008201&sr=11-1
This is the material I start people on who want to play in the new world (which is not new at all, just being discovered by .NET types).
Are you doing something different?
Thanks,
Damon
http://www.ayende.com/Blog/archive/2005/08/28/8328.aspx
http://www.ayende.com/Blog/archive/2008/03/15/Recommended-Books.aspx
frankly I was impressed how well you could simulate a legacy code scenario by writing from scratch.
I would need at least 6 beers before I could do it that well :)
At each point, all I had to do was to think what I should be doing, and then stop cringing
I don't see how anyone could possibly make the case that the primary author of a mocking tool like Rhino.Mocks doesn't live in the real world or doesn't have to deal with legacy code.
You will be surprised how often I get that opinion.
Jdn, wants to chime in?
Except in jest, I have never said you didn't live in the real world or deal with legacy code.
You do usually pawn the work off on whichever robot is running most inefficient that day, but that's an implementation detail.
Although I've been present (including in one of the Open Spaces Seattle sessions) when other people have said it. Is that what you mean?
That was me needling you, mostly.
LOL. Awesome! Thanks.
Now everyone prepare to see how this lovingly crafted masterpiece will be transformed into faceless, soulless piece of machinery blindly doing tax calculation - bearing no sign of its author's personality (in this case Oren's).
Just search for "Joe forgot to load the rates AGAIN!"
Comment preview