Set Expectations

We aren’t going to convert this beast of an old project into a marvel of elegant, test-driven code overnight. And trying to do so is probably not a good idea.

When we’re exposed to a new codebase the temptation to immediately fix everything and/or add tests to everything is pretty strong. Lie down until the feeling passes.

Test coverage and legacy code

There are two reasons it’s a bad idea to do nothing but add test coverage to a legacy project first thing.

First problem

From a purely logistical standpoint, we’re often expected to do something with it immediately when we take over a legacy project. Our new client may not perceive going off in the corner and doing nothing but writing tests for weeks at a time as forwarding motion. Every situation is different, but it’s rare to find a client that considers test coverage a “quick win.”