What role does testing play in the successful refactoring of legacy code?
Refactoring legacy code is a critical task for maintaining and improving existing software applications. It involves updating and improving the structure of the code without altering its external behavior. In this process, testing plays a pivotal role. Testing ensures that the refactored code continues to work as expected, prevents new bugs from being introduced, and maintains the integrity of the application. It's a safety net that allows developers to make changes with confidence, knowing that there's a mechanism in place to catch any errors that might arise from their modifications.