Introduction

In this article, I will offer you a unique look at the rise of agile practices. You will see how core agile values of instant feedback and communication manifest themselves in different forms throughout history. You will see how Runtime Intelligence embodies the essence of agile software development, and how it helps software succeed.

The Age of Antiquity

Athens and Jerusalem! The rivalry between them resulted in major battles throughout history and spilled over to our times.

The book of Talmud, a magnificent compilation of biblical commentary and legal analysis, was put to writing in the ancient Babylonian academies of Sura and Pumbedita. Similar to Extreme Programmers of today, scholars worked in pairs, pouring over and discussing the meaning of incredibly difficult texts. To the Sages, the Text was the embodiment of the Master of the Universe Himself. It communicated to them in a very real and tangible way. Greek logic was an extremely useful tool, but not a solution to all of the world’s problems. In the dusty halls of ancient academies, the Sages perfected the art of close reading, reasoning by analogy, and pattern recognition.

The Greeks, on the other hand, perfected the art of logic, philosophy, and mathematics. The Universe could be a living organism to them, but it did not interfere with the lives of mere mortals. In the Greek mindset, the Universe did not actively communicate with us. The notions of theory, formalism, and proof - all made their way into our worldview through the Greeks.

The Age of Reason

Similar to the Greeks before them, the great men of the Enlightenment saw the world as a big mechanical device. The Universe functioned like a big clock, and human beings were like specks of dust in this gigantic mechanism. The world abided by a strict set of mathematical rules, and the future could be predicted if only all the variables were known.

The Age of Reason exerted its influence on software engineering as well. The field of program verification was consistent with its worldview. Programs were seen as mathematical structures whose correctness could be proven by analytical means without ever executing them. Program verification made great contributions to computer science, but it never replaced the empirical and intuitive approaches to software engineering.

The Age of Modernity

Our age witnessed the birth of quantum, chaos, and the Big Bang theories. The Universe is no longer a mechanical clock it used to be. All of a sudden, a human being becomes an active participant once again.

In modern software development, we see a shift from formal and theoretical approaches to people-oriented ones. Active participation and communication start running like golden threads through agile practices of today.

In the art of unit testing, for example, unit tests collaborate with you on several different levels. They communicate the intentions of your programs and allow you to concentrate on the implementation details later. Unit tests let you break the dependencies in your code and make your programs decoupled and cohesive. They provide you with an instant feedback about the overall health of your system. You can execute thousands of them and get a result within seconds or minutes. Unit tests give you the confidence you need when you try to adapt to changing requirements of the outside world.

In the age of modernity, your applications become active participants and communicators too. Enter Runtime Intelligence.

Runtime Intelligence and Agility

In the world of Runtime Intelligence, there are no theories to predict which features your customers will like. There are no formal proofs about your software usage. There are no surveys to figure out how your applications are used.

Similar to unit tests of the art of unit testing, your applications themselves communicate with you. Based on their instant feedback, you can quickly make important business decisions. You can see which features provide the most value for the money you spend, which features your customers rely on the most, and which features need further development. You can adapt much faster to the rapidly changing world around you. This is the essence of being agile.

Great ideas do not exist in an intellectual vacuum. They are often a reflection of their times. If we want our software to succeed, we must pay close attention to the lessons of history. As we embark on a journey back to the future, one thing is certain. Our past is behind us. Our future is still in our hands.

Introduction

In this post, I will discuss beauty and technology. You will see specific examples of beautiful ideas found in computer science, ancient texts, and the latest creation of PreEmptive Solutions called Runtime Intelligence™. We will discuss the future of our industry and what helps software succeed. We will have a fascinating adventure through time and space. Buckle up, sit back, and enjoy the ride!

Complexity of software and technology

Technology is a complicated beast. One distinguished computer scientist remarked that he always dreamt of the day when a personal computer will be easier to use than a phone. Alas, he quipped, this day finally arrived when he no longer understood how to use his phone. Arguably, software is the most complex machinery known to man. With few keystrokes and limited only by the power of his imagination, a programmer can improvise machines of unprecedented complexity. How do we deal with these beasts, and what should be our guide?

Beauty

What is beauty? This topic fascinated the most brilliant minds in our history since ancient times. In his discourses, Plato talks about dividing nature at its joints and putting the pieces back together. The ability to do these things properly constitutes in his eyes the power of gods. In Plato’s ideas, a modern software engineer will recognize the concepts of coupling and cohesion that are central to the construction of high quality software. Christopher Alexander, an architect whose work inspired the design patterns movement, talks about “quality without a name” that recurs in great designs. This nameless quality is not in the eye of the beholder, he suggests, but can be objectively measured. One of the best definitions is given by Yale computer scientist David Gelernter in his fascinating book “Machine Beauty”. According to Gelernter, beauty is the marriage of power and simplicity. Achieving more with less is the hallmark of beautiful design. Unification and simplification are the driving forces behind great advances in science, technology, and other human endeavors.

Beauty in Systems Design

Alan Kay, the creator of Smalltalk programming language, uses the U.S. Constitution as an example of a beautiful system. After more than 200 years, it still functions without problems. The rabbinic Sages discuss the concept of beauty in the Talmud, monumental compilation of biblical commentary, law and homiletics. Talmudic tractate Sukkah 35a analyzes the Hebrew word for beautiful, hadar. The Sages conclude that it is the yellow citron tree, because the word “hadar” is interpreted to be a fruit which “dwells continuously all year on the tree” (ha-dar, literally, “that which dwells”). Thus, they understand the word “dar” to mean permanence, a continuous process through time, similar to the French “duree” or the English “endure”. In other words, beauty implies something that doesn’t lose its relevance over time.

Beauty in Computer Science

One of the most beautiful ideas in computer science is object-oriented programming. Alan Kay describes the epiphany he had when he finally got the idea of recursive simplicity inherent in object-oriented design. He realized that instead of dividing computer program into weaker things called data structures and algorithms, why not divide it up into little computers that have the same power as the whole. The designers of Simula-67 carefully studied Algol-based languages and made a startling observation. In order to execute a procedure in Algol, a local environment is created, which exists only for the duration of the call. Why not let those environments stick longer indefinitely, the designers observed, and let them communicate with one another. This led to the creation of the first object-oriented programming language that allowed software to be based on the real world structure and greatly simplified the design and construction of complex programs. The beauty of Simula-67 design was that tremendous power was achieved by utilizing already existing constructs. The idea of object-orientation was latent in the design of Algol waiting to be discovered.

Beauty in ancient texts

Biblical stories are some of the best examples of power and simplicity. As little children, we learned the story of creation of Eve from Adam’s rib. But did we know that the same story also contains deep insights into human nature and the Universe? Analyzing the text, the talmudic Sages make a startling observation. The Hebrew word “va-yiven” (created) used in the story exclusively in relation to Eve comes from the Hebrew word “binah” (understanding, intuition). After careful text analysis, the Sages conclude that when God created a woman He endowed her with greater intuition than a man! This is not a revelation to the better half of our readers who knew it all along, but this illustrates how a little story simple enough for children to understand also contains powerful insights into the makeup of our psyche. The power has been latent in the text waiting for us to discover it.

Beauty in Runtime Intelligence™

We finally come to the latest and greatest technology from PreEmptive Solutions - Runtime Intelligence™. In a flash of insight, the designers of Dotfuscator realized that in addition to obfuscating applications, why not let businesses inject additional code into their binaries that will talk back and provide all kinds of information about the way their software is used. In the age of agility, timely feedback is one of the most valuable assets. With a few simple clicks, organizations have a new powerful way to protect, manage, and monitor their software applications. This includes feature usage, shelf life expiration to stop applications from functioning after an expiration date, and tamper detection that allows an application to detect whether it has been hacked and take an appropriate action at run time. With aspect-oriented programming techniques, no additional code is required. Code that doesn’t have to be written is the most beautiful code there is. Runtime Intelligence™ allows you to do that and more. The power and simplicity latent in its design speak for themselves.

Helping Software Succeed

Why is beauty important in technology? It is important, because it helps us to be more competitive by achieving more with less. It helps software succeed. Beautiful code is easier to read, modify, and extend, and it saves us valuable time by letting us concentrate on solving increasingly complex problems. The recent rise in popularity of agile methodologies that put great emphasis on aesthetics of software development is a testimony to this view. As more sophisticated machines are developed, beauty will continue to play an important role in technology. As we enter the next decade of the 21st century, let’s hope that beauty will finally conquer the beast.