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 ValleyFriday, September 18, 2009

Ethics.

What makes a good programmer?

Act - Effect

Anatomy of an action

Deontology (Kant)

Act - Effect

Utilitarianism (Mill)

Act - Effect

Virtue (Aristotle)

Act - Effect

Downsides

Symptoms

What kind of Agile?

What language?

Immanuel Kant

Königsberg

deontologyduty

Principles

Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that

it should become a universal law

Categorical Imperative

Deontological software development

Don’t Repeat Yourself100% Test CoverageWrite readable code

Act - Effect

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

1.User stories are written.2.Release planning creates the schedule.3.Make frequent small releases.4.The Project Velocity is measured.5.The project is divided into iterations.6.Iteration planning starts each iteration.7.Move people around.8.A stand-up meeting starts each day.9.Fix XP when it breaks.10.Simplicity.11.Choose a system metaphor.12.Use CRC cards for design sessions.13.Create spike solutions to reduce risk.14.No functionality is added early.15.Refactor whenever and wherever possible.

16.The customer is always available.17.Code must be written to agreed standards.18.Code the unit test first.19.All production code is pair programmed.20.Only one pair integrates code at a time.21.Integrate often.22.Use collective code ownership.23.Leave optimization till last.24.No overtime.25.All code must have unit tests.26.All code must pass all unit tests before it can be released.27.When a bug is found tests are created.28.Acceptance tests are run often and the score is published.

XP Rules

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

Opposed slaveryFavored women’s suffrageFree markets(...with proper regulation)Animal rights Environmentalism

...way before these things were cool

Opposed slaveryFavored women’s suffrageFree markets(...with proper regulation)Animal rights Environmentalism

John Stuart Mill

Utilitarianism

Greatest good for the greatest number

The ends justify the means

Utilitariansoftware development

Act - Effect

Process - Outcome

Participants

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

What kind of agile?

No Process

Lisp vs. Perl

Act - Effect

Philosophy

PhilosophyEthics

PhilosophyEthicsPolitics

PhilosophyEthicsPoliticsRhetoric

Aesthetics

AestheticsPsychology

Biology

BiologyPhysics

Astronomy

BiologyPhysics

AstronomyEconomics

BiologyPhysics

AstronomyEconomics

(practical) wisdom

aiming at virtues

combined with moral strength

(practical) wisdom

aiming at virtues

leading to happiness

(practical) wisdom

aiming at virtues

(practical) wisdom

aiming atvirtues

CourageTemperance

PrideGenerosity

Good temperTruthfulness

WitFriendliness

ModestyRighteous Indignation

Excess (too much) Virtue (just right) Defect (too little)Rashness Courage Cowardice

Temperance

Generosity

Good temper

Truthfulness

Friendliness

ModestyRighteous Indignation

Excess (too much) Virtue (just right) Defect (too little)Rashness Courage Cowardice

Indulgence Temperance InsensibilityVanity Pride Lack of ambition

Prodigality Generosity IlliberalityIrascability Good temper Lack of spirit

Boastfulness Truthfulness False ModestyBuffoonery Wit Boorishness

Obsequiousness Friendliness CantankerousnessShyness Modesty Shamelessness

EnvyRighteous Indignation

Spitefulness

leading to happiness

modeling

practice

bootstrapping

Downsides

Virtue-basedsoftware development

Act - Effect

Process - Outcome

Participants

Education and training

Sane work schedules

Empower developers

Mentoring

Right people -> right outcomes

What kind of agile?

Natural

Empower programmers

Self-effacing

Pleasant to write

Happy and virtuous

virtues, not rules

virtues, not rulesmoderation, not excess

virtues, not rulesmoderation, not excessjudgment, not process

virtues, not rulesmoderation, not excessjudgment, not processwhole of life

virtues, not rulesmoderation, not excessjudgment, not processwhole of lifehappiness

Thanks!

Slides at:http://railspikes.com

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle and the Art of Software Development (Agile 2009)

unit tests

moral strength

utf8 database

2009what makes

good programmer

proper regulation

mysql encoding

2009what kind

Technology

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