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Use the Mikado Method to do safe changes in a complex codebase - Change Messy Software Without Breaking It
(understandlegacycode.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2026
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Programming
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I’m not a tdd guy, but I would reach for tests first. You don’t know the code yet. Testing is the only way to stay sane. And writing the tests if they don’t exist yet will help you learn the code.
Yes, but you do need to be careful with what level you test at. Too high level and the tests may be slow, flaky, and difficult to focus onto small details. Too low level and they may just bake-in the existing implementation.
That was such a huge problem on my last job. Most of the unit tests just executed the code and didn’t really test anything and any time you changed the implementation everything broke.
Thankfully it was truly my last job. 😊
The thing is... to test such code, you often need to modify it first.
You see the problem?
No. I don't grant your premise.
I think this is compatible with TDD. It's just fancy divide-and-conquer.