Comments on: Vicious circle of generalization <blockquote>Is it possible you are making a generalisation based on what looks like a bad design you’ve encoutered?</blockquote> Exactly what I thought. Unless proved very stupid or hasty, it must be assumed that this person deliberately designed "bad" data structures that don't support vertex extrusion because he didn't care to, most likely because he didn't know it was an important feature, not because the data structures were object-oriented, full of design patterns, and easy to extend <em>in the ways that were anticipated</em>.

Is it possible you are making a generalisation based on what looks like a bad design you’ve encoutered?

Exactly what I thought. Unless proved very stupid or hasty, it must be assumed that this person deliberately designed “bad” data structures that don’t support vertex extrusion because he didn’t care to, most likely because he didn’t know it was an important feature, not because the data structures were object-oriented, full of design patterns, and easy to extend in the ways that were anticipated.

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By: Guy Sherman/2011/04/01/vicious-circle-of-generalization/#comment-2337 Guy Sherman Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:22:05 +0000 Examples in this post, as exaggerated as they may be, can be seen in various codebases. Or at least I've seen them in various codebases, even very small ones, where they generated just a lot of noise. This whole rant may seem funny or bizarre for mature developers, but I guess (and I hope!) that many not-so-experienced programmers read #altdevblog. And if I can save even just one soul from future-proofed doom, it's worth it. :) Examples in this post, as exaggerated as they may be, can be seen in various codebases. Or at least I’ve seen them in various codebases, even very small ones, where they generated just a lot of noise. This whole rant may seem funny or bizarre for mature developers, but I guess (and I hope!) that many not-so-experienced programmers read #altdevblog. And if I can save even just one soul from future-proofed doom, it’s worth it. :)

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By: Rob Ashton/2011/04/01/vicious-circle-of-generalization/#comment-2247 Rob Ashton Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:52:11 +0000 <blockquote>"When a feature request arrives, we’re doomed we need to change a lot of code. Why? Because everything was designed as generalized as possible."</blockquote> I assume it's your call for 04.01 :)

“When a feature request arrives, we’re doomed we need to change a lot of code.
Why?
Because everything was designed as generalized as possible.”

I assume it’s your call for 04.01 :)

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By: FieldsOfCarp/2011/04/01/vicious-circle-of-generalization/#comment-2222 FieldsOfCarp Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:26:43 +0000