The Long Term Vision

The Long Term Software vision boils down doing the things that we are supposed to do, but that haven't been done.

There are certain parts of software engineering that we know are beneficial, but which don't get done. Things like documentation, testing and refactoring.  A person cannot be expected to modify a system correctly, but time and time again, developers are asked to do just that. Adequate documentation solves this problem.

As a system ages, it gradually acquires quirks. Maybe an approach seemed like a good idea at the time but later proved to be a bad idea. Whatever the case may be, systems require refactoring to make them consistent again.

Testing is often times the orphan child of software engineering. All systems should have tests but they often don't have them. This really comes back to bite when a change is made to a system that breaks something else. Without adequate tests, there is no way to know that this has happened.

None of these ideas are Earth-shattering. We know that these things should be done. But for whatever reason they don't get done. Maybe there is some sort of deadline that has to be met and corners have to cut to make it. Perhaps there is some new approach or cost-cutting going on that someone is eager to prove right. Whatever the reason, the things that should get done don't get done.

This problem is not unique to software, it happens across the board. Take a look at the number of people who are overweight. Everyone knows that dieting and exercise are good ideas, but people don't do them.

The Long Term Software approach is to do the things that we know are right but which don't get done. While this is easy in principal, it is hard to do in practice. That is why you need to bring in someone from outside the organization to do it.