My recent post on architectural erosion in the findbugs code-base was generally well received, but there were some skeptical voices. In a comment, Emeric questioned whether cyclic dependencies at the package level are anything more than a smell (if that). … Read More
Emergent Design
Software erosion in pictures – Findbugs
My particular area of interest in software these days is the importance of levels of abstraction above the raw code. In Java, the most natural place for these to manifest themselves is through the package structure (though this is certainly … Read More
Structure101 V3 Released, Adds Architecture Control for Teams
Released today, the new version 3 capabilities make Structure101 a nicely rounded architectural control solution in addition to the previous structural analysis and complexity measurement capabilities. For example: You can now define layering constraints on your code-base using simple, intuitive … Read More
Package design matters – Part 1
Java packages are often used like file-system folders to organize source. But source files differ from “normal” files in that they are highly inter-dependent. Considering this interdependence as a package hierarchy evolves can have significant productivity benefits. Packages as Folders … Read More
Complexity Debt – don’t “fix it”, “keep a lid on it”
So you just discovered that your code-base has racked up a whole load of complexity debt. This maybe explains why progress seems so painfully slow lately. You briefly think of suggesting a major complexity-reducing refactoring effort. This will delay the … Read More
Structure101 v2 goes GA today
Additions let you see complete slices of a code-base at any level, home in on structural complexity, view dependency graphs in matrix form, and map code items and groups (like tangles) through different hierarchies, slices and perspectives (learn more or … Read More
Spring 2’s architecture – A single dependency cycle slipped in
The Spring guys have let a single dependency cycle into their architecture. A very small flaw, but it’s a perfect example of why you need to check your code-base at different levels to keep it truly tangle-free. I did a … Read More
Tracking complexity debt
Un-monitored, the complexity of a code-base increases with its size. Jboss and Struts are perfect examples. However monitoring complexity helps you keep complexity debt under control, or even down to zero. If you publish the last couple of years worth … Read More
CAT-scan a code-base
Structure101 v2 goes beta today. With it you can walk through the code-base in slices from the class-level, to the package-level and up through the design levels, spotting tangles and seeing how far they have spread. This is a snag … Read More