Hey Team,
I want to talk to you today about a hidden killer that lurks in every codebase: software entropy. It's that relentless force that slowly but surely makes our systems messier, more complex, and harder to work with over time. The impact? Longer development cycles, unexpected bugs, and dwindling team morale.
What is Software Entropy?
Software entropy refers to the natural decay of software quality as changes accumulate. Think of it like a kitchen after a day of cooking — if no one cleans up after themselves, utensils pile up, dishes clutter, and eventually, the kitchen becomes unusable. Similarly, when developers rush to deliver features without considering the overall architecture or maintainability of the code, they contribute to the erosion of the codebase.
Examples of Entropy at Work
Quick Fixes: Instead of addressing root causes, quick fixes are applied at the symptom level, creating a web of workarounds that are harder to unravel.
Inconsistent Naming: Variable names that don’t reflect their true purpose lead to misunderstanding and misuse.
Lack of Documentation: Missing or outdated documentation turns even simple tasks into time-consuming adventures.
Ad-hoc Implementations: Code that works “just for now” inevitably becomes permanent, introducing unexpected side effects and making future changes riskier.
When developers work in isolation, focused solely on delivering functionality, they often fall into these traps. It’s like cooking without cleaning up afterward — eventually, someone will be left with a mess that no one wants to deal with.
My Experience Fighting Entropy
I’ve been down this road before. In smaller teams, I was able to combat entropy by guiding the architecture and staying vigilant. But as teams grew and systems scaled, entropy had more places to hide. It became a game of whack-a-mole, with decay spreading wherever I couldn’t have my eyes on. The lesson I learned is that fighting entropy is a team effort.
Without a shared commitment to maintaining code quality, decay wins. It’s inevitable. And while its impact on productivity may be subtle at first, it compounds over time, turning quick fixes into long-term roadblocks.
What I’m Asking From You: DevX-Driven Development
Now that you’re aware of this silent threat, I’m asking for your help to fight against it. How? By adopting what I call DevX-Driven Development.
The core philosophy is simple: work to make your colleagues’ lives simpler. When you have to choose between making something easy for yourself or for your teammates, always choose your team. Think as if you're still not writing for the end user, but a library for your colleagues. If you can anticipate how your colleagues will experience your code — whether they’re maintaining it, extending it, or integrating with it — then you’ll know what quality truly means.
Quality isn’t about ticking boxes on a checklist of best practices, following coding standards, or meeting test coverage targets. These are all surface-level manifestations of a deeper principle: empathy towards other developers.
What Empathy Looks Like in Code
Fix root causes instead of symptoms.
Choose clear and meaningful names.
Document your code, even if it seems obvious to you.
Ration complexity in small, digestible doses.
Never a class too big, never a type too permissive, never a scope too polluted.
When we all act with empathy, decay will start to recede. Because decay thrives on quick fixes, and quick fixes are selfish acts. They focus on getting something working now rather than ensuring it will work well for others later.
Boy Scout Rule: Leave the Code Cleaner Than You Found It
That’s why I’m introducing one guiding rule for our fight against decay: the Boy Scout Rule. With every PR, no matter how small, leave the codebase a little better than it was before you touched it. Even if it’s just improving a comment, renaming a misleading variable, or extracting a small method, every step towards clarity is a step away from entropy.
Closing Thoughts
I don’t care which direction we take to achieve this, as long as we’re aligned in the fight against entropy. I’ll do my best to create alignment and provide a shared vision if one is lacking. But please, let’s ensure we have a clear north star, and let’s do a good deed with every PR we deliver.
Together, we can keep entropy at bay and build something we’re all proud of.
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