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The Real Secret Behind Writing Good Software?

Stefan Tilkov,

Uncle Bob Martin:

Do you want to know the real secret behind writing good software? Do you want to know the process that will keep your code clean? Do you want the magic bullet, the secret sauce, the once and for all one and only truth?
OK, here it is. Are you ready? The secret is…

The secret is…

Do a good job.

Although Robert Martin is one of the Agile-with-a-capital-A guys, this reminds me of one of one my favorite Jim Webber posts of all time.

(Background: James Shore’s post on ‘The Decline and Fall of Agile’, see InfoQ’s summary.)

On November 18, 2008 5:46 PM, Aristotle Pagaltzis said:

In other words, the Feynman Method. :-)

On November 18, 2008 9:41 PM, Stefan Tilkov Author Profile Page said:

Betraying my ignorance, I had to google for the definition of it – but yes, this seems to fit very nicely :-)

(For the interested: here’s one of the links I found: http://indexical.blogspot.com/2007/04/feynman-method-and-some-excuses.html )

On November 20, 2008 4:10 AM, Aristotle Pagaltzis said:

Hmm, that link doesn’t talk about what I meant, so just in case, I’ll be more explicit. This is the Feyman Method for solving problems:

  • Write down the problem.
  • Think very hard.
  • Write down the answer.

:-)

On November 20, 2008 7:33 AM, Stefan Tilkov Author Profile Page said:

LOl! That’s an excellent method indeed.