April, 2007

The invisible lift

Lift button and fllor indicator with no door

The story goes that when the building was built, the organisation taking the top floor demanded their own lift that would not stop at any other floor. They got their wish. Entrances to the lift shaft were blocked off on every floor except the ground and top floor. End of story? Not quite. The floor indicator and call buttons were installed on every floor.

Do you build invisible lift openings when you build software? Install buttons and indicators in the anticipation that they might one day be needed. (Ignoring the fact these are mere details hiding the bigger picture… doors for example). This is a good example of YAGNI, you ain’t gonna need it. You don’t need a lift floor indicator and call button until you’ve got an opening to the shaft and doors. And when you need those lift technology will probably have moved on and the buttons and indicators will be all but obsolete.

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