Michael Feathers defines "legacy" as "something that doesn't have satisfactory tests". Dan North adds "does something useful". Without the tests, refactoring

Michael Feathers defines "legacy" as "something that doesn't have satisfactory tests". Dan North adds "does something useful". Without the tests, refactoring is dangerous. This means that the systems are encouraged to remain static while the world around them changes. Systems that do the job, but for the wrong reasons, are legacy. That last one was me. :)