'''How Software Systems Learn: What happens after they are built'''  by D'NarbTrawets.

A book that begs to be written.

-- ToddCoram

[cf. HowBuildingsLearn by StewartBrand]
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Or, to save money, we can borrow the paperback of
Sartre's '''Nausea''' (from the back cover: "Nausea is the 
story of Antoine Roquentin, a French writer who is 
horrified at his own existence...His thoughts culminate
in a pervasive overpowering feeling of nausea...") 
from the library. 

I mean, what's moderately nice in buildings (Hey ! Is
that an extra floor with a sewing room overhanging the patio ? Cool !!) becomes
horrifying in software (Hey ! Is that a reliable messaging
system tightly coupled to the database layer ? Sob !!).

I'm not being totally facetious. I suspect that much 
of what we admire about the way building age and adapt
fills carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and the 
guys who install heaters with dread. And that the 
architectural metaphors are sometimes more romantic 
than accurate. 


-- WilliamGrosso
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No architectural metaphors (beyond what is suggested by the title) are needed. Indeed, software systems are '''not''' buildings. However, there is a resonance in the comparison of architecture and software. 

I ''live'' in emacs most of the day. It adapts to my needs. It is easy (for me) to configure.  I find it difficult to spend much time in vi. It too can be configured, but there are some
''architectural'' foundations that affect it's adaptability.  Among others: You must exit the edit mode in order to move around the file.  Some people adapt to vi; some people don't.  

In many respects, the adaptability of software (like emacs) is quite different than the ''learn-ability'' of buildings.
How Software Systems Learn can as easily be a book that draws analogies with complex adaptive systems, instead of architecture.

-- ToddCoram
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The essay "Habitability and Piecemeal Grown" in
PatternsOfSoftware is a start.  In rereading it,
I get the feeling that Alexander would appreciate emacs.

-- DaveSmith (11/7/96)
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