#15 in the ranking · technical · 2004
Working Effectively with Legacy Code
Working Effectively with Legacy Code, by Michael Feathers, published in 2004, is cited by 98 people in conversations on Hacker News, Stack Exchange and TabNews. It shows up in 19 of the 20 years, from 2008 to 2026, with the most mentions in 2022. People who cite it also cite Clean Code, The Pragmatic Programmer and Code Complete.
Year by year
Peak: 12 mentions in 2022
Mentions per year: 2007: 0; 2008: 3; 2009: 1; 2010: 5; 2011: 6; 2012: 2; 2013: 3; 2014: 5; 2015: 10; 2016: 8; 2017: 10; 2018: 10; 2019: 7; 2020: 6; 2021: 7; 2022: 12; 2023: 7; 2024: 3; 2025: 4; 2026: 4.
Where it’s cited
What people write
From a text search; it doesn’t yet tell recommending apart from just mentioning.
One of my favourites is Michael Feather's "Working effectively with legacy code".
Hacker News · 2022 · in “Software engineering books to read and reread” · see comment ↗
Some great books are Clean Code, Pragmatic Programmer, Working Effectively with Legacy Code
Hacker News · 2018 · in “Ask HN: Books/courses for self-taught programmer” · see comment ↗
I highly recommend the book "Working Effectively with Legacy Code" (Michael Feathers).
Hacker News · 2026 · see comment ↗
I've seen the book Working Effectively with Legacy Code recommended a few times.
Stack Exchange · 2011 · in “What are the key points of Working Effectively with Legacy Code?” · by Armand · CC BY-SA 3.0 · see comment ↗
Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers.
Stack Exchange · 2010 · in “If you could only have one programming related book on your bookshelf what would it be and why?” · by Paddyslacker · CC BY-SA 2.5 · see comment ↗
If you work with legacy code then it may be worth getting Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers.
Stack Exchange · 2009 · in “Suggestion on book to read about refactoring?” · by graham.reeds · CC BY-SA 2.5 · see comment ↗
| 14 | Working Effectively with Legacy Code | Michael C.
TabNews · 2026 · in “Os 15 livros mais recomendados para devs segundo 100 fontes.” · see comment ↗
- Livro: Trabalho eficaz com código legado
TabNews · 2023 · in “Problemas na retenção e entendimento do conteúdo lendo livros como: Clean Code, Clean Arch, DDD, Design patterns..... e a sindrome do crud” · see comment ↗
- Trabalho Eficaz com Código Legado, Michael Feathers
TabNews · 2022 · in “Livros recomendados de Programação - Dúvida” · see comment ↗