SE Radio 615: Kent Beck on "Tidy First?"
Software Engineering Radio - the podcast for professional software developers
00:00
Exploring Reversible and Irreversible Changes in Code and the Importance of Tidying Up
Tidying up code by adjusting names can reveal similarities, leading to a reduction in coupling. Structural changes are usually reversible, like renaming variables, but behavioral changes, which have irreversible effects in the outside world, require careful consideration. Type one decisions, advocated by Jeff Bezos, involve reversible choices, while type two decisions have irreversible impacts. Reversible changes, like extracting helper functions or inlining functions, can be made quickly. The reversible nature of structural changes allows for easy undoing if needed, unlike behavioral changes that affect users or other systems, emphasizing the need for caution and thorough testing.
Transcript
Play full episode
