Code Immortal

Posted on January 24, 2007 by Tito

Use this software rant from Steve Yegge and metaphorize it as you see fit. Yeah, I said it - Metaphorize.

I think the second most important design principle, really a corollary to the first, is that systems must be able to grow without rebooting. A system that can’t grow over time is static, so it really isn’t a system at all; it’s a function. It might be a very complex function with lots of possible inputs and outputs. It might be a very useful function, and it might live for a long time. But functions are always either replaced or subsumed by systems that can grow. And I’ve come to believe, over nearly two decades of thinking about this, that systems that can grow and change without rebooting can live forever.

PS - You can bet (or “dollars to donuts”1) I’m going to name my next Software Project/Band/Blog/Etc… “Code: Immortal” with the colon thrown in for marketing reasons.

1 Which as of …..NOW! replaces “still waters run deep” as my favorite phrase to use despite not know what it means exactly.

NEARLY INSTANT UPDATE: “What does the phrase “dollars to donuts” mean?”

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