APPropriate Behaviour
The book about all the things software writers do that aren't writing software.
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Author Archives: Graham
Everyone rejecting everyone else
It’s common in our cooler-than-Agile, post-Agile community to say that Agile teams who “didn’t get it” eschewed good existing practices in their rush to adopt new ways of thinking. We don’t need UML, we’re Agile! Working software over comprehensive documentation! … Continue reading
The feature constraint
If you’re in a purely software business, your constraining resource is often (not always, not even necessarily in most cases, but often) the rate at which software gets changed. Well, specifically, the rate at which software gets changed in a … Continue reading
Posted in software-engineering
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Immutable changes
The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act was supposed to bring about a culture change in the parliament and politics of the United Kingdom. Moving for the second reading of the bill that became this Act, Nick Clegg (then deputy prime minister, now … Continue reading
Posted in process
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On exploding boilers
Throughout our history, it has always been standardisation of components that has enabled creations of greater complexity. This quote, from Simon Wardley’s finding a path, reminded me of the software industry’s relationship with interchangeable parts. Brad Cox, in both Object-Oriented … Continue reading
Sprouts
Having discussed reasons for change with a colleague on my team, we came up with the sprouts of change. Good software is antifragile in the face of changing: Situation People Requirements Organisation Understanding Technology Society Like any good acronym, it’s … Continue reading
Posted in architecture of sorts
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Change
I was just discussing software architecture and next steps with a team building a tool to help analyse MRI images of brains. Most of the questions we asked explored ways to proceed by focussing on change: what if the budget … Continue reading
Posted in architecture of sorts
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The value of the things on the left
With the rise of critical writing like Bertand Meyer’s Agile! The Good, the Hype, and the Ugly, Daniel Mezick’s Agile-Industrial Complex, and my own Fragile Manifesto, it’s easy to conclude the this Agile thing is getting tired. We’re comfortable enough … Continue reading
Zen and the Art of Software Maintenance
In one part of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which is neither about Zen nor motorcycle maintenance, there are two motorcycles and two riders. John Sutherland is a romanticist who appreciates the external qualities of his … Continue reading
Posted in architecture of sorts, design
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A question of focus
The problem with The Labrary is that I offer to do so many things – because I could do them, and do them well – that it can be hard to find the one thing I could do for you … Continue reading
Posted in advancement of the self, Business
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Great Documentation, Great Software
A paraphrased conversation, the other day, between me and a customer of one of my customers: Me: Are you experienced at working with my customer’s developer APIs? Them: I always feel like a newbie, because there’s so much stuff. But … Continue reading
Posted in architecture of sorts, documentation
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