Title

Towards Simple Code - A Workshop on the Value of Simplicity in Software

Duration

90 minutes with follow-up BoF sessions or 180 minutes including group work

Organizers

Giovanni Asproni, Kevlin Henney and Peter Sommerlad

Biography ^

Giovanni Asproni is an independent consultant and contractor who specialises in agile software development, software architecture and design, project management, with a strong passion for writing simple code (especially in C++, Python, and Java). He is a member of the ACCU, the AgileAlliance and the chair of the London XPDay6 conference.

Kevlin Henney is an independent consultant and trainer who specialises in programming languages and techniques, OO design, patterns, software architecture and agile development. He has been a columnist and contributor for various magazines, including Application Development Advisor, Java Report, C++ Report, C/C++ Users Journal and EXE, all of which appear (coincidentally) to have folded. He is currently a columnist for The Register's Reg Developer. Kevlin is coauthor of two recent volumes in the Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture series. He is a long-time member of the ACCU and has found himself drawn into various committees, including the one for the C++ standard, the one for The C++ Source and, formerly, the one for this conference.

Peter Sommerlad is professor and head of Institute for Software at HSR Hochschule für Technik, Rapperswil. He is a well-known Patterns author (POSA, Security Patterns) and feels guilty allowing developers creating more complex designs by leveraging his patterns.

Description ^

The organizers observe that Simplicity is not valued high enough by many software people. For example, for many it is much cooler to employ the most modern complex technology in solving a problem than to strive for a simple, easy to understand, effective solution, obtaining as a result brittle, unmaintainable, and poorly performing software.We want to change that value system in our profession to push Simplicity as a value of software higher.

The goal of the workshop is to create a prototype of a kind of manifesto for software people to promote Simplicity: A Simple Code

Audience ^

developers designers, architects, managers

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Notes:

Simple software often requires hard work (or thinking) and is rarely created the first time you tackle a problem. However, with Refactoring we are able to simplify software and that is what everybody should do.