Slide 1

Slide 1 text

Software systems have emergent structures.

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

Software systems are irregular.

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

Software systems are contextual.

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

Software systems are intricate.

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

text

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

This is a real software system.

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

It is irregular.

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

It is contextual.

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

It is intricate.

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

Its structure emerges out all its tiny details.

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

This is another real software system.

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

It is irregular.

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

It is contextual.

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

It is intricate.

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

These two systems come from different domains.

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

And they have radically different shapes.

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

But, why do they look so different?

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

Is it only because they come from different domains?

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

Let’s take a step back.

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

This visualization shows one class, its methods and its attributes.

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

The class exhibits a rather regular shape.

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

Add some collaborator classes to the mix, and its shape changes.

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

Some of it seems to want to be in a different place.

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

Add some more, and the shape shifts even more.

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

Look at the whole system, and the class is unrecognizable.

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

Look at the whole system, and the class is unrecognizable.

Slide 27

Slide 27 text

This is a tiny system.

Slide 28

Slide 28 text

This system is actually the result of only a few man-weeks of work.

Slide 29

Slide 29 text

This system is also the result of a few man-weeks of work.

Slide 30

Slide 30 text

In fact, both systems have similar functionality.

Slide 31

Slide 31 text

Yet, they have radically different shapes.

Slide 32

Slide 32 text

These three systems also have similar functionality.

Slide 33

Slide 33 text

And these two systems have similar functionality, too.

Slide 34

Slide 34 text

Yet, they have radically different shapes.

Slide 35

Slide 35 text

Why is it that even functionally similar systems look so different?

Slide 36

Slide 36 text

Because software systems are irregular.

Slide 37

Slide 37 text

Software systems are contextual.

Slide 38

Slide 38 text

Software systems are intricate.

Slide 39

Slide 39 text

Software systems have emergent structures.

Slide 40

Slide 40 text

The structure emerges out of tiny independent commits.

Slide 41

Slide 41 text

The structure emerges out of changes in requirements.

Slide 42

Slide 42 text

The structure emerges out of human interaction.

Slide 43

Slide 43 text

Software systems have emergent structures.

Slide 44

Slide 44 text

Treat software systems for what they are.

Slide 45

Slide 45 text

Upfront control is unlikely to work.

Slide 46

Slide 46 text

Embrace their emergent nature.

Slide 47

Slide 47 text

humane-assessment.com

Slide 48

Slide 48 text

Tudor Gîrba www.tudorgirba.com creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/