Why is the legacy code is the way it is? | Java, JVM and beyond

Why is the legacy code is the way it is? | Java, JVM and beyond

legacy code is devoid of good number of tests- so it becomes difficult to test the changes to see if it breaks something you are not aware of. Also if you are not sure of the changes to the code then you try to keep the changes as minimal as possible- just enough to fix the issue and not to improve the quality.

mostly while the code was written there might not have been peer code reviews. Code reviews are often a good way to find places where the code can be refactored and improved. Its always advantage for a third eye to read the code. And its helps in improving the quality of the code to some extent.

legacy code would have been written with cramped deadlines where the importance would be to just get the software out of the door, to be in the market as early as possible. Under such circumstances its the quality of the code that takes an hit.

the platform/language used for the code might not generate code that's very readable/manageable.

legacy code lacks the required documentation/specification, not readable enough to understand the logic.

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