Strangler Fig
In plain terms
Gradually replacing a legacy system by routing pieces to new code.
Going deeper
The strangler fig pattern incrementally builds new functionality around an old system, redirecting traffic piece by piece until the legacy is retired. It avoids risky big-bang rewrites.
Under the hood
New and old run side by side; a routing layer shifts features over time until the old system is removed.
Examples
Legacy modernization, incremental migration, monolith-to-microservices, safe rewrites.
Think of it like...
Like a strangler fig vine slowly growing over a tree until it replaces it entirely.