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LunaSeatoday at 4:49 PM1 replyview on HN

What you are describing is not bad software, it's complex, performant and software with a long lifetime.


Replies

matheusmoreiratoday at 5:13 PM

> can't change a single line of code in the product without breaking 1000s of existing tests

> all held together with thousands of flags

> ridden with mysterious macros that one cannot decipher

> needs to understand the values and the effects of 20 different flag

> Sometimes 100s

> only reason why this product is still surviving and still works is due to literally millions of tests

> The fact that this product even works is nothing short of a miracle!

Sorry, but I can't think of any adjective for this mess other than just "bad". That's some truly industrial grade slop, and I hope whoever worked on that got paid handsomely for it.