Your software is alive and breathing, it is daily interacting with other life forms (humans, databases, third-party apis, etc). It is growing on a daily basis, increasing in the length of its branches and deepening its roots. Its growth can be stagnated, it's life, can be cut short. It is not an object that will just sit on a server you deployed it to and stay exactly the way you deployed it, No, Someone somewhere will call on it to render the services for which you created it for.
Just like a living organism, software needs to be nurtured and cared for in order to thrive. It needs to be updated, patched, and maintained in order to stay secure and performant. And just like a living organism, software can develop bugs and issues that need to be diagnosed and fixed.
But unlike a living organism, software can be replicated and distributed to many different environments. This means that the software needs to be tested and verified in multiple scenarios to ensure that it works as intended, and that it can adapt to different conditions.
As the software continues to grow and evolve, it may outgrow its original purpose and need to be redesigned to meet the changing needs of its users. This process of evolution is essential to the software's survival, as it allows it to stay relevant and continue providing value to its users.
Just as a living organism is part of an ecosystem, software is also part of a larger system. It interacts with other software and with hardware, and it needs to be designed to work seamlessly with these other components.
Ultimately, treating software as a living thing requires a mindset of continuous improvement and adaptation. It requires the developers and maintainers of the software to be constantly aware of its needs and to work tirelessly to ensure its continued growth and success.
Top comments (1)
Awesome and beautiful insight. looking forward to reading more on this blog