Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
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Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#2Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#3Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
I think it's a reference to the book "How buildings learn". I haven't read the whole book but as far as I have read it goes like this:
people try to guess what the good building supposed to be and build it but later they have a change of heart or either some other people move to that building and have completely different outlooks of what their home should be like. Author argues there is levels to buildings and we should build bottom levels in a way that won't hinder later changes to upper layers because the bottom levels are unchangeable and you would be better off destroying and rebuilding it if you want to change those bottom layers.
Software seems to be related in a sense that the bottom layers of your app should be developed in a way that won't be in the way of developing new features because if that happens you would need to rewrite from ground up.
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#4Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
I think it's a reference to the book "How buildings learn". I haven't read the whole book but as far as I have read it goes like this: people try to guess what the good building supposed to be and build it but later they have a change of heart or either some other people move to that building and have completely different outlooks of what their home should be like. Author argues there is levels to buildings and we sh…
It was just hunch that the article is about that book and after skimming the article seems like my hunch was right.
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#5Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
I think it's a reference to the book "How buildings learn". I haven't read the whole book but as far as I have read it goes like this: people try to guess what the good building supposed to be and build it but later they have a change of heart or either some other people move to that building and have completely different outlooks of what their home should be like. Author argues there is levels to buildings and we sh…
Good book, better (great) TV series https://youtu.be/maTkAcDbrEY
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#6Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
It's mainly to help software 'architects' sleep at night
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#7Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
I think it's a reference to the book "How buildings learn". I haven't read the whole book but as far as I have read it goes like this: people try to guess what the good building supposed to be and build it but later they have a change of heart or either some other people move to that building and have completely different outlooks of what their home should be like. Author argues there is levels to buildings and we sh…
Off-topic, but the item ID of your comment is 33333333.
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#8Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
I compare it to buildings a lot, especially when explaining things to non-technical stakeholders.
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#9Software systems have always felt more organic to me than any building. A building will go years without any major changes or renovations. Your average modern software application sees multiple changes per day. And the functionality of the software evolves quite iteratively and rapidly over time. It also has to respond to various environmental stresses.
Re: Layers of change: How buildings and software are alike
#10Why even think about software as a building at all? Just think about it as software. I don't understand the urge to draw parallels to other fields.
I think it’s because this is an analogy that’s used explicitly and implicitly by non technical people. So I use the analogy in order to refute it.
What I say is, software is almost nothing like a building. Software doesn’t get built once; it grows over time. Even if you don’t change the functionality, external factors like security updates and changes in fashion force you to continually update it over time. A much better analogy, if you need one, is a garden or park.