Working Effectively with Legacy Code

By Michael Feathers,

Book cover of Working Effectively with Legacy Code

Book description

This book provides programmers with the ability to cost effectively handlecommon legacy code problems without having to go through the hugelyexpensive task of rewriting all existing code. It describes a series of practicalstrategies that developers can employ to bring their existing softwareapplications under control. The author provides useful guidance about…


When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Working Effectively with Legacy Code as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Unless you are writing a greenfield app, you have legacy code around. And even if you are on a greenfield app, you are writing legacy code right now.

This book gives you techniques for working on such a codebase. It is a really good read for learning how to refactor safely so you can work with what you are inheriting. You might notice this book is 20 years old. It’s just as relevant today as when I first read it in 2004. The concepts don’t depend on the exact language syntax.

In fact, some of the examples are in a…

From Jeanne's list on becoming a better Java developer.

Want books like Working Effectively with Legacy Code?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 33 books like Working Effectively with Legacy Code.

Browse books like Working Effectively with Legacy Code

Book cover of 97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts
Book cover of Practical Design Patterns for Java Developers: Hone your software design skills by implementing popular design patterns in Java
Book cover of DevOps Tools for Java Developers: Best Practices from Source Code to Production Containers

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in object-oriented programming, computer programming, and software?

Software 61 books