The Myth of Software Complexity

To claim that software is complex and that therefore we must create large teams to manage that complexity (as SAFe asserts (1)) is missing the point entirely. In this article, I’ll examine the fundamental flaw in that perspective and explain what we really need to do to manage software development in the modern world.

 

Software is complex. I have heard this a lot in my career. It is typically said by either people who do not actually understand software development or by practitioners who want to maintain the mystique of the discipline. Good software engineers know that the best software is a simple as possible.

 

The statement “software is complex” implies that complexity is a fundamental characteristic of software. This is quite obviously not true. If complexity is a fundamental characteristic of software, then we would not have all these clever iPhone apps being developed by individuals, even children, in time frames measured in days. The vast majority of software running things such as your clock, thermostat, and parts of your car is extremely simple. Even the software running robots is relatively simple. The math is complex, the software is not.

 

I’m sure the counter argument is, “OK, all software is not complex. But the software running our businesses and systems, that is complex.” If it is true, then that software is almost certainly unnecessarily complex. Think about most business applications. At its most fundamental, you have a user interface, some business rules, and a database. While the business rules may be complex, the software to implement them should not be. There may be a lot of features, but that does not mean the software behind the features is complex. Many is not the same as complex. Large is not the same as complex.

 

The discipline of software engineering (not coding, engineering) is filled with techniques and practices to remove complexity from software. This is because complexity in software is bad. Complex software is hard to understand, and therefore prone to error, difficult to change, and often full of defects. Good software is as simple as it can be, easy to understand, easy to maintain. Practices such as service oriented architecture, domain specific languages, object oriented design, test first development, refactoring, and minimum viable product all speak to the push away from complexity.

 

As my buddy Kyle points out, you have to ask the right questions. The question is not “How do we manage the development of complex software”, the question is “How do we remove complexity from our software”? Hint: you do not remove complexity by creating teams of 70-100 people running under the structure of a program (2). The Fluid Approach is based on removing complexity in software by using the eXtreme Programming (XP) practices along with good Voice of the User teams made up of Analysts and UI Designers who are skilled at Solution Anthropology.

 

I’m sure someone will bring up this argument “OK, software does not need to be complex, but the process of developing software is complex”. My answer to that is it does not need to be. If your software development process is complex, you have made it unnecessarily so. I have worked for extremely large companies creating big software using a very straight forward, simple development process. You really can create large percentage of the software needed today with teams of no more than 20 people with broad skill sets.

 

If your company has many different programmer roles, tester roles, analyst roles, etc., then you have created an unnecessarily complex process. If you have many layers of people involved in your software projects, then you have made the projects unnecessarily complex. The question is not “How do we manage a complex software development process”, the question is “How do we lean out our software development process”? The Fluid Approach has the answer: cross training, dedication and co-location of the development team with the Voice of the User team, management of the queue, and development of the tribe. These things have been proven to simplify the process of software development.

 

The question is not “How do we manage complexity”?

 

The question is “How do we remove unnecessary complexity”?

 

The Fluid Approach shows you how.

 

(1) “Our modern world runs on software. In order to keep pace, we practitioners must build increasingly complex and sophisticated software systems. Doing so requires larger teams…” http://scaledagileframework.com/ , Why it Matters, accessed 11 May 2014

 

(2) “Trains work best with about 50-100 people dedicated to a primary value stream.” http://scaledagileframework.com/agile-release-train, accessed 11 May 2014.