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"Legacy code" is a term often used derogatorily to characterize code that is written in a language or style that (1) the speaker/writer consider outdated and/or (2) is competing with something sold/promoted by the speaker/writer. "Legacy code" often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling.

— Bjarne Stroustrup Bjarne Stroustrup's FAQ (2007)

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More quotes by Bjarne Stroustrup

Anybody who comes to you and says he has a perfect language is either naïve or a salesman.

C++ 0x - An Overview (2007)

Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out.

The Design and Evolution of C++ (1994)

Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost.

The C++ Programming Language (2013)

An organisation that treats its programmers as morons will soon have programmers that are willing and able to act like morons only.

The C++ Programming Language (2013)

Maybe "just one little global variable" isn't too unmanageable, but that style leads to code that is useless except to its original programmer.

The C++ Programming Language (2013)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Bjarne Stroustrup (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.