Generic or Specific? Making Sensible Software Design Decisions
summary
Decision framework with concrete heuristics: ask the five whys, apply the rule of three (abstract only on the third reuse), and weigh effort vs scope — reusable components cost about three times more to build and maintain and introduce team coupling. Examples: a government system’s flexible config produced a 7,000-line SQL query and slowed delivery; simple rewrite solved it in months. Standards can add 6–12+ months for changes. Use hierarchical levels (code, component, service, org), Conway’s law, and prefer specific-first until clear, widespread reuse justifies a generic approach.
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chapters (4)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:18Session "Generic or Specific? Making Sensible Software Design Decisions" by Bert Jan Schrijver
- 45:14Bert Jan answers questions from the audience
- 50:25Outro
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