language agnostic - Do you ever make a code change and just test rather than trying to fully understand the change you've made? -
I am working in a 12-year code base, on which I am the sole developer. Many times it happens that I will make very little changes based on an intuition (or quantum jump in logic - -).
Normally I try to decode that change and make sure that I will read the code completely. / P>
However, sometimes (more and more these days) I just test and make sure I wanted to effect it (I am a completely full tester and even if I read the code Will test).
This works for me and it is surprising (compared to most of the software I see) some bugs survive in the wild. / P>
But what I am thinking is whether it is towards the "art" of coding or not. Yes, in a perfect world, you will read completely every bit code that modifies your change, but in practice, if you believe that it only affects a small part of the code, will it A common thing?
I can clearly see that this would be a destructive approach in one hand poor programmer but then, I have seen a programmer who is apparently reading the code and left the stuff and right Based code that only they are working).
Once you wrap the legacy code into a double security blanket of testing (good unit testing and good System / integration / regression testing, with excellent coverage of each of the two layers), relying on tests to capture misconceptions is an effective short-term strategic approach. It is a legacy codebase designed for high ROI tactics. Training adds, it is a part of it you immediately bug make fixes or burning-Quick features enables you to quickly add, causing complications of existing code not you understand.
However, as indicated on other answers, such changes are depositing technical loans; As for any other loan, the sooner you pay it, the better it will be that you will last long. In this case, "paying" is not just about documentation of internal, but it can also do the restructuring of the codebase for clarity and satisfaction - really good testing will also help you refinance with confidence such as They are for bug fixes and functionality enhancements for legacy codes.
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