Rotating Knives

Having a discussion on development methodologies today with some of my colleagues, I read for the first time the “Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship.”  Any manifesto is open to and inevitably spawns much interpretation.  I am interested in seeing where this one goes.  But reading and putting in my 2 cents brought some great work from a great architect to mind.

Back in 2004, Pat Helland produced his work on the evolution of IT called Metropolis which made a compelling argument that we are moving away from software craftsmanship and toward software manufacturing. I had the privilege of getting to speak with Pat while we were both at Microsoft and I am an admirer of his work and accomplishments.  Give Metropolis a read and see if you don’t see truth in the metaphor.