Subject: Buzzwords and concepts

From: Chen Shapira <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 11:58:08 +0200

Hi,

Today I saw this article in JavaWorld, about "must have" books of the trend:

http://www.javaworld.com/jjw/javtut_nl/jw-09-2000/jw-0929-bibles.html

The books it mentions are about design patterns, refactoring, anti-patterns
and XP.

These are the latest buzzwords of our fine proffession.

I am not familiar with Anti-Patterns, but it seems like a comprehensive name
to all the mistakes Brooks describes in Mythical Man-Month. This book first
came out 20 years ago! how come *this* is the latest buzzword?

Refactoring is even worse. Apparently its a fancy name for "moving code
around". Every programmer is moving code around all the time, we figure out
that 2 functions have similar functionality that shouldn't be duplicated,
etc. So the book shows a lot of ways to recognise when is it needed and what
to do, very nice. Still, to make a new words around the most mundane part of
our work and talk like its the hotest newest discovery? that code needs to
move around alot while its being written? come on!

Design Patterns is a bit of a diffrent matter. We all knew those patterns,
and its nice to have new names for them, its even nice that begining
programmers can now find good descriptions and uses in one book, just don't
let me hear anyone who things that wrappers weren't the same before the book
called them "decorators".

XP is the only thing that has some actual content, mostly because it's a
methodology. And methodology is something badly needed in our havoc ridden
occupation. Almost as much as research. I would love to have some research
about methodology and their usefullness, there are some hard facts, but not
enough, most of the field is still guesswork and wishfull thinking. But then
again Brooks already said all that. And its still true 20 years later.

Which reminds me. Does anyone has any idea what did Brooks actually meant by
"Conceptual Integrity"? And why is it so vital?

--
Chen Shapira

---

From: Omer Zak <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 12:26:11 +0300 (IDT)

> These are the latest buzzwords of our fine proffession.

[... various laments about warmed-over buzzwords were snipped ...]

> "Conceptual Integrity"? And why is it so vital?

Read Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead".  Conceptual integrity is what Howard Roark
is all about.  One project suffered from budgetary overrun and feature cut
when this principle was violated (and Roark exploded it).
                                             --- Omer
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