Legacy code isn't a mess to fix; it's a site to excavate. You're sifting through artifacts left by developers you'll never meet, reading their structures like ancient texts: the original architecture, the evolutionary mutations, the emergency patches that became permanent. Learn to recognize which layer you're in, extend grace to builders working with limited tools, and discover why the best archaeologists write code future excavators can actually read.
#softwareengineering #legacycode
