Blog.CBojar.net

When we write code, we write it to be used. We call it from other places in our application. Others call it from places in their application. When we are writing code, we should show what we mean through our code, an idea known as intention-revealing interfaces . We reveal intentions through the external surface we expose. But what intentions are we exposing? We write our code in a way that we think will be useful, but we are mostly writing implementation. We are writing what the code should do, and then from there how others would use it. The implementation drives the interface. The implementation does not always have the right intentions, though. Here's a simple class that stores historic temperature data for processing: public class TemperatureHistory { private int[] temperatures; public TemperatureHistory(int[] temperatures) { this.temperatures = temperatures; } public int[] getTemperatures() { return temperatures; } } This is a simpl...

When I write a chunk of code, it is wrong. I know it is wrong, even as I am writing it. But there's nothing I can do about it. I don't, and can't know how it is wrong when I am writing it. I can only know that I am writing wrong code. I am not phased in the least. As professionals, we are expected to write code with a certain quality of maintainability so that our code can be easily changed in the future. This is expected because of how often code does need to change, often in unexpected ways. We cannot predict all the ways the code needs to change. The future is inherently unpredictable. We must write our code in a way that makes changes as straightforward as possible. I don't worry about writing wrong code. I write it in a way that I can make right later. I design seams in places that seem most likely to change. I know them by the uncertainty that lives in them. I abstract and encapsulate that uncertainty behind methods and classes and interfaces so that later,...

We've all heard of the metaphor of technical debt by now. Maintaining poorly written software costs more in the long term, even if it saves in the short term. Thinking of this as a form of debt helps explain this in terms business-oriented stakeholders can understand. Metaphors are valuable because they can meaningfully convey a concept through a different context. They bridge the gap between two different ways of thinking. Sometimes we can take the metaphors a little too far, and they become disconnected from what they are actually trying to represent. This has happened with the metaphor of technical debt. Other times, we can explore the metaphor to find deeper relationships between the real concepts and the metaphorical ones. Financial debt has the concept of interest in it. Interest is an extra charge on top of the original value lent. It covers risk and provides incentive to the lender. It is calculated as a percentage on top of the principle amount of the loan. So a loan ...