Technical decisions and the weight of legacy

Seniority is context

The job shifts from “solving the right problem” to “picking which problem to solve”. That requires little about how to code and a lot about knowing how to say no.

The weight of legacy

Legacy code is the cost you didn’t pay when the system was born. Every shortcut from the past became high-interest debt. The senior’s job isn’t to rewrite everything — it’s to pick which piece of debt is worth paying off this quarter.

The map I use

• High pain + high risk → surgical refactor with new tests.
• High pain + low risk → replace and move on.
• Low pain + high risk → monitor and document the danger.
• Low pain + low risk → leave it alone.