It is incredibly hard to move between codebases with/without automated testing, especially moving in the without direction.
I have never been so scared-shitless as when recently deploying a new build of such a codebase.
I have been very careful to avoid touching it as much as possible, but nevertheless must deploy it: the partially-to-untested work of others.
There were deployment and operational problems, mostly due to:
- no automated tests,
- no test suites,
- insufficient test environment, i.e. not all devices present on-site are available for developers to test with,
- no clean install environment, to test for installation issues.
It should be no surprise that we got bitten by all of the above. Nothing like doing your development in-the-field. Obviously this can't always be avoided, but taking measures can minimize it.
The sad part is we may not be able to reproduce the recorded defects, due to the aforementioned reasons. I'm only happy I won't be the one single-stepping through the debugger....
Yes, people still do that; the ones without tests. It's like using a microscope to inspect an elephant.
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