The Archaeologist’s Copilot

Nik Malykhin faced a modernization challenge, per Martin Fowler: getting a Java 1.5 codebase to run on modern hardware, targeting Java 8. His early attempts to use LLMs for guidance produced plausible but ultimately unreliable suggestions. Progress came only when he shifted to using AI to support evidence-based analysis, validating changes in stable Docker containers and carrying out incremental refactoring protected by tests. The takeaway is practical: AI excels when constrained by evidence, clear roles, and a methodical step-by-step modernization strategy.

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