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Applications remain simple in the absence of god code - level 100

Imagine two scenarios:

You build a system where one class is responsible for coordinating actions of many. This one class may observe many conditions or events and act appropriately.
Each small event or condition is encapsulated by an object. You have many classes, but the responsibility of each class is small. No one class has too much to do.

I call the first scenario "god code". This code rules from on high. This code might have to track multiple conditions in class or global variables to keep track of what is going on. This code is very busy all the time and has its hand in everything.

god code leads to overly complex applications. A remedy for god code is to push behavior down into the smaller classes being worked on. Empower the smaller classes to take some responsibility for themselves. They are quite capable.

Published Oct 14 2006, 12:28 AM by Jeffrey Palermo

Comments

dp said:

Well said J. I worked on a project recently which served the purpose of being a State Engine for an application. Instead of creating a Mondo State Engine class, with every state and all it's complexities within, the Engine was simply a broker/manager of individual state classes, each with it's own behavior. Much more manageable.

# October 16, 2006 11:06 AM

Vikas Kerni said:

How one can distinguish between God Code and AOP/Metadata driven/complex configuration driven code ? Microsoft heavy use of attributes in .Net Framework shows the strength of these techniques. How can one determine if he is making effective use of these techniques or over-engineering?

# November 3, 2006 6:02 PM

About Jeffrey Palermo

Jeffrey Palermo is a software management consultant and the CTO of Headspring Systems in Austin, TX. Jeffrey specializes in Agile coaching and helps companies double the productivity of software teams. Jeffrey is an MCSD.Net , Microsoft MVP, Certified Scrummaster, Austin .Net User Group leader, AgileAustin board member, INETA speaker, INETA Membership Mentor, Christian, husband, father, motorcyclist, Eagle Scout, U.S. Army Veteran, and Texas A&M University graduate.