--- title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Legacy Code - William... description: Legacy systems aren't inherently bad—they're just systems that have aged. To work effectively with them, focus on two key dimensions: understanding (knowledge... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-legacy-code---william-brander---ndc-london-2026-chmlzyjne twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Legacy Code - William Brander - NDC London 2026 | daily.dev og:description: Legacy systems aren't inherently bad—they're just systems that have aged. To work effectively with them, focus on two key dimensions: understanding (knowledge... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-legacy-code---william-brander---ndc-london-2026-chmlzyjne og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/cHMlZyJnE.png og:image:alt: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Legacy Code - William Brander - NDC London 2026 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Indiana Jones and the Temple of Legacy Code - William Brander - NDC London 2026 **[NDC Conferences](https://daily.dev/sources/ndc)** · 51 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Legacy systems aren't inherently bad—they're just systems that have aged. To work effectively with them, focus on two key dimensions: understanding (knowledge of how the system works) and supportability (tooling and guardrails for safe changes). Improve supportability through reproducible builds, CI/CD pipelines, automated tests, and observability. Build understanding by mining Git history to find frequently changed files, bug-prone areas, and hidden coupling between components. Apply refactoring techniques appropriate to the system's lifecycle stage—critical support, maintenance, or active development. Legacy work is ultimately risk management: assess what you know, what safety nets exist, and whether your approach fits the system's current phase. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Your Legacy System Isn't the Problem](https://daily.dev/posts/your-legacy-system-isn-t-the-problem-x2xvtgqak) · Atomic Spin · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Legacy Software System Modernization: From Refactoring to Rewrites](https://daily.dev/posts/legacy-software-system-modernization-from-refactoring-to-rewrites-ul0mkazrc) · Tech Lead Digest · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Learning to love other people’s code.](https://daily.dev/posts/learning-to-love-other-people-s-code--q3ox7xl8d) · Simple Thread · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#testing](https://daily.dev/tags/testing), [#git](https://daily.dev/tags/git), [#observability](https://daily.dev/tags/observability) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-legacy-code---william-brander---ndc-london-2026-chmlzyjne) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Legacy Code - William Brander - NDC London 2026","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-legacy-code---william-brander---ndc-london-2026-chmlzyjne","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-legacy-code---william-brander---ndc-london-2026-chmlzyjne"},"datePublished":"2026-02-11T10:13:54.016Z","dateModified":"2026-02-11T10:14:15.014Z","description":"Legacy systems aren't inherently bad—they're just systems that have aged. 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