Why we should repair broken windows

Marco Leutenegger

4.10.2016

Translation: machine translated

Find out what camping developers and neglected code are all about. Part 3 of our engineering manifesto: Keep it tidy!

Always leave the campsite cleaner than you found it!

Boom! This blog post also starts with a quote! Unfortunately, I can't tell you a story. Or a fairy tale. I can't even say exactly who actually wrote this sentence. It is said that it can be found in a set of rules of the Boy Scouts. At least that's what the clean code community claims. After a (very) brief search, I have not found a similar sentence that specifically goes in this direction and comes from a Scout Law. Mostly you end up with articles from Clean Code or the history of the Scouts. So the origin does seem to be somewhere in the Scouts.

In any case, the Boy Scout rule is a nice metaphor for how we can constantly improve our working environment. It says that you can improve processes or code step by step. It doesn't matter how big this change is, it can also be very small. The only important thing is that it is done continuously. So that, for example, code does not rot, but continues to develop and improve iteratively.

This principle is also a measure of the broken windows theory. In a few words, this theory states that a harmless phenomenon, such as a broken window in a vacant house, can later lead to complete neglect. Or that one piece of graffiti on the wall will soon be followed by others. Applied to our situation, this means that if sub-optimal circumstances (as a process or code) are accepted and neglected over a long period of time, they can lead to major problems later on. In this case, it helps to repair the broken windows directly in order to prevent future problems.

For us, it can go in the direction of trying to tidy up left and right in addition to the work to be done. This doesn't mean completely overhauling a process or starting a huge code refactoring programme. It can be very small things. Every small improvement brings added value. In addition, you feel better personally because, as we all know, you should do a good deed every day. (The scouts strike again!)

Of course, I couldn't let the brief research I mentioned at the beginning get to me, so I went back to the digital library and scoured the books (I simply googled it). I found out a bit more about the origin of the scout rule. It was derived from the farewell message, "Try to leave the world a little better than you found it, ..." by Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell to the Scouts. The message is: Leave the campground cleaner than you found it. (Source: Clean Code by Robert C. Martin)

Here are a few suggestions on how you can use this virtue

I do piratesque small refactorings. In doing so, I consciously take reasonable risks. I can use tools such as NDepend for this purpose
I leave code in a way that I can stand by
Clean up the unused usings! ;-)

Also here: Further vivid examples of how the third motto of the manifesto can be lived are very welcome. We welcome all feedback!