4 ms·
Software 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 s
by chrisco255 4y ago
Software 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.
- lliamander 4y agoThe point of this essay is that buildings do change, but different parts change at different rates - and the same with software. You don't change the language your application is written in every day, and likewise the structure of a building isn't changed every day. But the stuff inside a building does change frequently.
- 8note 4y agoOnly if you don't consider the people inside the building or the more detailed furnishings like the type of toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms
- atoav 4y agoAs someone working in a building that is 250 years old I can assire you that it too sees multiple changes a day. Minor changes sure. A wall being painted here, a cable being inserted there, a entrance being moved etc. Sure walls being moved is a more rare occurance, but it too happened multiple times during the past years. I think there are undeniable parallels between software and architecture. Architecture just operates on a longer time scale.
- chrisco255 4y agoI think it's a stretch to try to analogize it to architecture. Your 250 year old building rarely grows. How often does it double in size? A code base can double multiple times in a year, particularly during a scaling up phase. How often does the entire structure of the building get replaced?