Legacy Trap

Definitions

1. A situation where old systems, guarantees, or dependencies keep pulling the present into expensive compromise. In engineering slang, legacy traps are the reason clean rewrites so often collide with reality.

   In plain English: A situation where old systems or guarantees trap current work in costly constraints.

   Example: "The API team was stuck in a legacy trap where every simplification idea broke one enterprise client still pinned to a years-old workflow."

Related Terms

• Bandaid Fix
• Code Bankruptcy
• Code Burden
• Code Vampire
• Cruft
• Escape Velocity
• Platform Lock-In
• Reality Check
• Slap a Band-Aid
• Tech Debt Swamp
• Technical Bankruptcy
• We'll Fix It Later
• Zero Budget