> Most of software work is maintaining "legacy" code, that is older systems that have been around for a long time and get a lot of use.
That's not the definition of legacy. Being there for a long time and getting lots of use is not what makes a legacy project "legacy".
Legacy projects are characterized by not being maintained and having little to no test coverage. The term "legacy" means "I'm afraid to touch it because it might break and I doubt I can put it back together". Legacy means resistance to change.
You can and do have legacy projects created a year or two ago. Most vibecoded apps fit the definition of legacy code.
That is why legacy projects are a challenge to agentic coding. Agents already output huge volumes of code changes that developers struggle to review, let alone assert it's correctness. On legacy projects that are in production, this is disastrous.
That's not the definition of legacy. Being there for a long time and getting lots of use is not what makes a legacy project "legacy".
Legacy projects are characterized by not being maintained and having little to no test coverage. The term "legacy" means "I'm afraid to touch it because it might break and I doubt I can put it back together". Legacy means resistance to change.
You can and do have legacy projects created a year or two ago. Most vibecoded apps fit the definition of legacy code.
That is why legacy projects are a challenge to agentic coding. Agents already output huge volumes of code changes that developers struggle to review, let alone assert it's correctness. On legacy projects that are in production, this is disastrous.