Programming first principles - 6. Premise - Minimize propagating changes throughout the system

This post (Programming first principles - 6. Premise - Minimize propagating changes throughout the system) was originally published on Sargalias.

Our next premise is that we must minimize propagating changes throughout the system.

This follows from our premise of minimal information:

1. Propagating changes throughout a system means we need to be aware of additional required changes.
2. This means we need to be aware of more things than if there were no additional required changes.
3. This conflicts with our premise of minimal information.

It is also a suggested requirement for making systems that are easy to change:

1. Less propagating changes means less changes are required overall.
2. Which means less work is required to change the system.
3. Which suggests that the system is easier to change.