Book Image

Working with Legacy Systems

By : Robert Annett
Book Image

Working with Legacy Systems

By: Robert Annett

Overview of this book

The IT industry is constantly evolving with the introduction of new technologies. While it is important to keep up with advancements, maintaining legacy systems is equally necessary to ensure that the infrastructure of your organization functions to the best of its ability. Sound knowledge of techniques that can be used for maintaining legacy systems can help you avoid common pitfalls. The book begins with a quick overview of what a real legacy system looks like, how it works, and common issues that may be faced when trying to maintaining it. You'll then explore the architecture of a legacy system in detail and understand each of its components. As you progress, you'll discover a variety of techniques for analyzing a legacy system and how to apply them. Once you get to grips with the security constraints associated with legacy systems, you'll explore ways to secure them. Finally, you'll be able to easily make changes in legacy systems to enhance their performance. By the end of this book, you’ll have developed the skills and confidence to work with legacy systems and efficiently maintain them.
Table of Contents (7 chapters)

Further Analysis


What Else Can Be Done?

The analyses suggested so far have been static and high-level. What follows are a few lower-level analysis areas that may apply to your system. Each of these short sections could justify their own chapters (or even whole books) but I will just give a few pointers for brevity.

If I've missed out anything you consider important, please email and let me know – perhaps you're working on a type of system I've not come across before.

Further Static Analysis

Database Schemas

There will be a data model (object/class model or data structure) within the application code and probably a separate one within a database. It is very common for these to be out of sync or for one to be a subset of the other. The database in question may be a traditional SQL one or something more unusual – currently, NoSQL databases are becoming popular but there is nothing new about changing trends and fashions in databases.

Fortunately, most databases follow a standard (SQL especially...