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Thread: Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

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    Default Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

    I am at this point the last most experienced Java programmer dealing with enhancements to a Java GUI wrapped around a legacy C/C++ app...which is to say, distinctly short on local help, when my own relatively modest skills aren't enough to sort out why the wretched thing doesn't behave, or doesn't work consistently. It doesn't help, that the GUI of which I now have custody has been developed by a variety of people over the past 10-12 years, each with their own unique approach to programming Java (read, all sorts of inconsistent approaches), and most of them apparently in the process of learning it on the job.

    I can only hope not to frustrate people too much, as I flounder around trying to figure out what my options are for dealing with the beast.


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    Default Re: Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

    Refactoring may be the best approach. Especially if it is old code. Chances are, it is not optimized for Java 7.
    Before doing a proper refactor, open it with an IDE, like Eclipse, where you can tell it to mark warnings and stuff in code. And turn on most of the available warning markers, and deal with those before refactoring. That way you can get rid of all the obviously "dirty" code before attempting to refactor it.
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    Default Re: Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

    I could wish I had that freedom, but no...our system restricts me to making only the smallest changes necessary to implement any fix or enhancement, and I'm code-reviewed on that. And Java 7? Oh, heck. This thing's been written in everything from Java 1.2 through (mostly) Java 1.4, through (now) Java 6, which I and my last team lead were able to get pushed in a year or two back, only once we hit an enhancement nothing less would allow us to push through.

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    Default Re: Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

    Welcome, and we'll help if we can, but I doubt those who help here will be sensitive to your company's rules, and are not keen to show you how to do what we might consider to be the "wrong" thing. But, we'll do our best.

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    Default Re: Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

    No problem. I don't expect anyone to countenance insanity (I'm the only one getting paid to do) and have no great hopes that anyone may be able to do more than occasionally point me in the direction of possible additional things to search/study.

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    Default Re: Hello from the middle of a decade's worth of legacy code...

    Well, ideally, your company should have a coding standards document or something. If they don't, you should go ahead and suggest to your boss that one should be established. At the very least, your company should be using java's coding standards documentation (Code Conventions for the Java Programming Language).
    You can take the messy approach to refactoring and code cleaning: doing it as you go about your usual tasks. If you need to fix a bug in a section of code, consider gently modifying the surrounding code to meet the java coding standard (things like adding qualifiers, javadocs, and other non-invasive adjustments).
    If you notice deprecated methods or classes being used, point them out to a coworker, saying a possible improvement needs to take place there. Just be vigilant on significant issues and try to send them up the chain of commands. You can't do much more than that.
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