Post Modern Programming

Lots of software is already written and can solve your problems, if you can only get it to do what you need. Postmodern programming is about using code that already exists, and not writing much code yourself. This is usually in the form of gluing together or configuring other people's code. This is the reality of "enterprise" software today. Postmodern programmers recognise this fact and work with it rather than pretend that it isn't the case and come up with, for example, a programming language or paradigm that would solve all programming problems once and for all if only everybody does everything properly - that way - the one true way. There is no OneTrueWay.

See also:

• http://www.postmodernprogramming.org
• NotesOnPostmodernProgramming
• PostModernistProgrammingLanguage (PerlLanguage and other GlueLanguages)
• XpAndPostModernism
• PostModernism
• EnterpriseApplication

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Some early principles discovered at a PoMo programming workshop at OopslaOhFive (http://nat.truemesh.com/archives/000555.html):

• Examples over Documentation
• Source Code over Binary Components
• Loosely Structured Data over Highly Structured Data
• Dynamic Typing over Static Typing
• Focused Components over Frameworks
• Compose Components over Modify Existing Applications
• Rich Component Library over Programming Tools
• Actual Capabilities over Intended Use
• Simplify the Problem over Functional Areas

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VernorVinge is sympathetic with this view, conceiving of "software archeologists" who scour ancient codebases for algorithmic treasure.

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CategorySoftwareDevelopment