Aristotle and the Art of Software Development (Agile 2009)

Aristotle and the art
of software development
Jonathan Dahl

http://tumblon.com (work)
http://zencoder.tv (product)
http://railspikes.com (blog)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Or: what does Athens have to
do with Silicon Valley?
Jonathan Dahl

http://tumblon.com (work)
http://zencoder.tv (product)
http://railspikes.com (blog)


Athens Silicon Valley

Ethics.


G


PG


PG-13


R


What makes a good programmer?


Anatomy of an action

Act - Effect
Actor


Deontology (Kant)

Act - Effect
Actor


Utilitarianism (Mill)

Act - Effect
Actor


Virtue (Aristotle)

Act - Effect
Actor


Downsides


Symptoms


What kind of Agile?


What language?


Immanuel Kant


Königsberg


deontology
duty


Principles


Categorical Imperative

Act only according to that maxim by
which you can at the same time will that
it should become a universal law


Deontological
software development


Don’t Repeat Yourself
100% Test Coverage
Write readable code


Act - Effect
Actor


Process - Outcome
Participants


Determine the right process


(Determine the right principles)


Stick to the rules


“You have to follow every aspect of
the process for it to work”


Follow the rules, even when you
don’t think you’ll like the outcome


“This is just the way things are
done”


Ever-growing rules


XP Rules
1.User stories are written. 16.The customer is always available.
2.Release planning creates the schedule. 17.Code must be written to agreed standards.
3.Make frequent small releases. 18.Code the unit test ﬁrst.
4.The Project Velocity is measured. 19.All production code is pair programmed.
5.The project is divided into iterations. 20.Only one pair integrates code at a time.
6.Iteration planning starts each iteration. 21.Integrate often.
7.Move people around. 22.Use collective code ownership.
8.A stand-up meeting starts each day. 23.Leave optimization till last.
9.Fix XP when it breaks. 24.No overtime.
10.Simplicity. 25.All code must have unit tests.
11.Choose a system metaphor. 26.All code must pass all unit tests before it can
12.Use CRC cards for design sessions. be released.
13.Create spike solutions to reduce risk. 27.When a bug is found tests are created.
14.No functionality is added early. 28.Acceptance tests are run often and the
15.Refactor whenever and wherever score is published.
possible.


Don’t Repeat Yourself

Write clear, understandable code


development:
adapter: mysql
encoding: utf8
database: app_development
username: root
password:

test:
adapter: mysql
encoding: utf8
database: app_test
username: root
password:

production:
adapter: mysql
encoding: utf8
database: app_production
username: user
password: password

standard:
adapter: mysql
encoding: utf8

local:
username: root
password:

development:
<<: *standard
<<: *local
database: app_development

test:
<<: *standard
<<: *local
database: app_test

production:
<<: *standard
database: app_production
username: user
password: password


<% local_password = "" -%>
<% local_user = "root" -%>
<% [{:name => "development", :user => local_user, :password => local_password},
{:name => "test", :user => local_user, :password => local_password},
{:name => "production", :user => "user", :password => "password"}
].each do |environment| -%>
<%= environment[:name] %>
adapter: mysql
encoding: utf8
database: app_<%= environment[:name] %>
username: <%= environment[:user] %>
password: <%= environment[:password] %>
<% end -%>


What kind of agile?


Certiﬁcation


John Stuart Mill


John Stuart Mill
Opposed slavery
Favored women’s suffrage
Free markets
(...with proper regulation)
Animal rights
Environmentalism


John Stuart Mill
Opposed slavery
Favored women’s suffrage
Free markets
(...with proper regulation)
Animal rights
Environmentalism

...way before these things were cool


Utilitarianism


Greatest good
for the greatest number


The ends justify the means


Utilitarian


Driven by experience


Ad hoc


Results-oriented


Willing to compromise


“Just get it done”


“Doesn’t have to be pretty”


Short term vs. long term


No Process


Lisp vs. Perl


Philosophy


Philosophy
Ethics


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics
Psychology


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics
Psychology
Biology


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics
Psychology
Biology
Physics


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics
Psychology
Biology
Physics
Astronomy


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics
Psychology
Biology
Physics
Astronomy
Economics


Philosophy
Ethics
Politics
Rhetoric
Aesthetics
Psychology
Biology
Physics
Astronomy
Economics
Logic


(practical) wisdom


(practical) wisdom
aiming at virtues


(practical) wisdom
aiming at virtues
combined with moral strength


(practical) wisdom
aiming at virtues
combined with moral strength
leading to happiness


aiming at
virtues


Courage
Temperance
Pride
Generosity
Good temper
Truthfulness
Wit
Friendliness
Modesty
Righteous
Indignation

Excess (too much) Virtue (just right) Defect (too little)
Rashness Courage Cowardice
Temperance
Pride
Generosity
Good temper
Truthfulness
Wit
Friendliness
Modesty
Righteous
Indignation

Excess (too much) Virtue (just right) Defect (too little)
Rashness Courage Cowardice
Indulgence Temperance Insensibility
Vanity Pride Lack of ambition
Prodigality Generosity Illiberality
Irascability Good temper Lack of spirit
Boastfulness Truthfulness False Modesty
Buffoonery Wit Boorishness
Obsequiousness Friendliness Cantankerousness
Shyness Modesty Shamelessness
Righteous
Envy Spitefulness
Indignation

combined with
moral strength


leading to happiness


modeling


practice


bootstrapping


Virtue-based


Education and training


Pride


Sane work schedules


Empower developers


Mentoring


Right people -> right outcomes


Natural


Empower
programmers


Self-effacing


Pleasant to write


Happy and virtuous


virtues, not rules


virtues, not rules
moderation, not excess


virtues, not rules
judgment, not process


virtues, not rules
whole of life


virtues, not rules
whole of life
happiness


Thanks!
Slides at:
http://railspikes.com

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics


Aristotle and the Art of Software Development (Agile 2009)

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Aristotle and the Art of Software Development (Agile 2009)

Similar to Aristotle and the Art of Software Development (Agile 2009) (10)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Aristotle and the Art of Software Development (Agile 2009)