Legacy code often requires manual processes. Building, verification, packaging, and deployment all require manual steps. Make the minimal changes to allow incremental automation for every part of the pipeline.
Habit: Checklist Automation
Organization ROI: Manual processes can be automated, even ones with missing information. Engineer ROI: Automate everything. Incrementally address inconsistencies. Match your investment to the time savings.
Habit: Healthy Unit Tests 1 — Readable Tests
Organization ROI: Communication between developers and product owners become easier. Engineer ROI: Instantly know why each test exists and what code to change when requirements change.
Habit: Healthy Unit Tests 2 — Stop Testing Internals
Organization ROI: Tests tell you where you will pay costs on future stories. Engineer ROI: Refactoring never requires updating tests.
Habit: Healthy Unit Tests 3 — Test Long Methods
Organization ROI: Begin automatically verifying your most important chunks of code. Reduce the cost of future changes. Engineer ROI: Test responsibilities independently, even when they are in the same method.