Programming/Principles

Principles

Easier to change (ETC)

Good Design Is Easier to Change Than Bad Design.

A thing is well designed if it adapts to the people who use it. For code, that means it must adapt by changing. So we believe in the ETC principle: Easier to Change. ETC. That's it.

As far as we can tell, every design principle out there is a special case of ETC.

Why is decoupling good? Because by isolating concerns we make each easier to change. ETC.

Why is the single responsibility principle useful? Because a change in requirements is mirrored by a change in just one module. ETC.

Why is naming important? Because good names make code easier to read, and you have to read it to change it. ETC!

ETC Is a Value, Not a Rule.

Values are things that help you make decisions: should I do this, or that? When it comes to thinking about software, ETC is a guide, helping you choose between paths. Just like all your other values, it should be floating just behind your conscious thought, subtly nudging you in the right direction.

Meyer's Five Rules

Linguistic Modular Units principle

Modules must correspond to syntactic units in the language used.

Self-Documentation principle

The designer of a module should strive to make all information about the module part of the module itself.

Uniform Access principle

All services offered by a module should be available through a uniform notation, which does not betray whether they are implemented through storage or through computation.

Open-Closed principle

Modules should be both open and closed.

Bibliography

• [