What We Just Learned

Working with legacy code is always a challenge, but you can use Cucumber tests to help make it a much more enjoyable challenge.

• Be pragmatic! Don’t exhaust yourself trying to retrofit a complete set of Cucumber features for everything the system already does. Instead, add them gradually, one at a time, as you need them.

• Use characterization tests to help you understand what the system is already doing and to give you some security before you make a change.

• Every time you discover a bug, trap it with a new Cucumber scenario. Every time you add new behavior to the system, start by describing it with a Cucumber feature.

• Use code coverage to give you and your team feedback and encouragement about your progress in getting the system under test.

• Enjoy the newfound confidence with which you can refactor and clean up the code that’s covered by the tests.