> typeof universe

'recursive space turtles'

> universe instanceof RecursiveSpaceTurtles

'who's to say really?'

The programmer is in the unique position... They have to be able to think in terms of conceptual hierarchies that are much deeper than a single mind ever needed to face before... the automatic computer confronts us with a radically new intellectual challenge that has no precedent in our history.

Edsger Dijkstra

On the cruelty of really teaching computing science, EWD1036-0.

Modular programming is a software design technique that emphasizes separating the functionality of a program into independent, interchangeable modules, such that each contains everything necessary to execute only one aspect of the desired functionality.

Modular Programming. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_programming. Accessed 9 May 2016.

It's all about containing complexity... By making small focused modules you can easily build large complex systems without having to know every single detail of how everything works. Our short term memory is finite.

Sindre Sorhus

https://github.com/sindresorhus/ama/issues/10#issuecomment-117766328

When applications are done well, they are just the really application-specific, brackish residue that can't be so easily abstracted away. All the nice, reusable components sublimate away onto github and npm where everybody can collaborate to advance the commons.

substack

http://substack.net/how_I_write_modules

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evovled from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a simple system.

John Gall

The more I modularize my code. The bigger it gets.

Nolan Lawson

"The cost of small modules". Read the Tea Leaves. 15 August 2016.

Over 400ms is being spent simply walking the Browserify tree.

Sam Saccone

"The cost of small modules". Read the Tea Leaves. 15 August 2016.

How many modules are in a typical web application?

• requirebin.com: 91 modules

• keybase.io: 365 modules

• m.reddit.com: 1050 modules

• Apple.com: 1060 modules

https://nolanlawson.com/2016/08/15/the-cost-of-small-modules/

webpack and browserify

every module gets its own function

(function e(t,n,r){function s(o,u){if(!n[o]){if(!t[o]){var a=typeof require=="function"&&require;if(!u&&a)return a(o,!0);if(i)return i(o,!0);var f=new Error("Cannot find module '"+o+"'");throw f.code="MODULE_NOT_FOUND",f}var l=n[o]={exports:{}};t[o][0].call(l.exports,function(e){var n=t[o][1][e];return s(n?n:e)},l,l.exports,e,t,n,r)}return n[o].exports}var i=typeof require=="function"&&require;for(var o=0;o<r.length;o++)s(r[o]);return s})({1:[function(require,module,exports){
module.exports = 0
},{}],2:[function(require,module,exports){
module.exports = 1
},{}],3:[function(require,module,exports){
module.exports = 10
},{}],4:[function(require,module,exports){
module.exports = 100
// etc.

rollup and closure

hoist everything into a single function

(function () {
        'use strict';
        var module_0 = 0
        var module_1 = 1
        // ...
        total += module_0
        total += module_1
        // etc.

Yes, small modules are easier to write. Yes, they’re easier to test. Yes, it’s easier to adhere to semver. These are all things that make your life as a library author easier. As we’ve seen, they come at a cost for others.

Rich Harris

https://medium.com/@Rich_Harris/small-modules-it-s-not-quite-that-simple-3ca532d65de4#.9qtsjcmd6

the small modules philosophy:

the small modules philosophy:

• ✅ benefits the library writers

the small modules philosophy:

• ✅ benefits the library writers

• 😩 disadvantages application writes

the small modules philosophy:

• ✅ benefits the library writers

• 😩 disadvantages application writes

• 🙅🏾 harms end users

Scientists work from models acquired through education and through subsequent exposure to the literature often without quite knowing or needing to know what characteristics have given these models the status of community paradigms.

Thomas Kuhn

Kuhn, Thomas. "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", pg 46 (1962)

Your monolith is complex. A split system is more complex.

CJ Silverio

Most of the big problems in software are problems of misconception.

Rich Hickey

"Hammock Driven Development". Clojure Conj, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84n5oFoZBc.

It is an interesting reflection on the general climate of thought before the twentieth century that no one had suggested that the universe was expanding or contracting.

Steven Hawking

A Brief History of Time. Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks: 6, 1988.

[Start] with a list of difficult design decisions or design decisions which are likely to change. Each module is then designed to hide such a decision from the others.

David Parnas

Parnas, D. L. 1972 On the Criteria To Be Used in Decomposing Systems into Modules. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc: Programming Techniques, 1053-1058.

None of us are born knowing how to write software.

Rich Hickey

Write code that is easy to delete, not easy to extend. Instead of building re-usable software, we should try to build disposable software. I don’t need to tell you that deleting code is more fun than writing it.

Tef

http://programmingisterrible.com/post/139222674273/write-code-that-is-easy-to-delete-not-easy-to

npm install

a-brief-history

{ "name": "a brief history and mishistory of modularity", "author": "ashley williams @ag_dubs", "version": "1.0.0", "dependencies" : { "Edsger Dijkstra": "On the Cruelty of Really Teaching Computer Science", "Stephen Hawking": "A Brief History of Time", "Rich Hickey": "Hammock Driven Development", "Rich Hickey": "Design, Composition, Performance", "Tef": "Write code that is easy to delete, not easy to extend.", "CJ Silverio": "Cheating Gall's Law", "Nolan Lawson": "The cost of small modules", "Substack": "How I write modules", "Sindre Sohrus": "Small Modules: Tales from a Serial Module Author" }