DesiPundit

Vinod reviews Richard P. Gabriel’s fascinating book, “Patterns of Software”, that draws parallels between software design and architecture.  Think of programmers as residents (or users) of a building, the building in this case being the software.

He said that these buildings were beautiful because people inhabited them. What he meant was, that people owned these buildings, over time they made small alterations or changes to these buildings, they felt responsible for these buildings. Hence, a sort of harmony emerged out of this confluence of men and buildings that created beauty.

This, he said, is contrary to modern design principles in which buildings are constructed according to a master plan – something that someone sits down and decides once and for all - and the actual users of the building have little or no say in modifying the building to their own needs.