The Kung Fu of Software Engineering
I’ve been studying both kung fu and software engineering for many years. I’ve come to realise that they are very similar and that kung fu is a pretty good metaphor for software engineering.
Done right it looks easy, but it’s not
When you watch kung fu in movies, or martial arts in general it makes sense logically, it looks sensible. Attackers punch in one direction and defenders block in another. Sometimes there’s tricks and special moves but they’re just a matter of learning them. However when you actually try and do these moves you find it’s not so simple. It’s not easy to react the right way under pressure when you’ve not done it before. You need to learn muscle memory, improve your fitness, work on your reactions and internalise sometimes counter-intuitive techniques. When you really do it well you use very little energy to do something that looks easy and it becomes easy but other people can’t get it just by watching you.
Both software engineering and kung fu are deceptively difficult, with hidden complexities and complex emergent behaviour. I think it was Grady Booch who said (although I couldn’t find the quote so any mistake is mine) “Software development has, is and always will be, inherently complex”.
Complexity built from simple small techniques
In many kung fu styles you learn basic small movements in repetition, often called “form” in martial arts, Sil Nim Tao (generally referred to as Siu Nim Tao in Wing Chun kung fu, the RUP of kung fu) is translated as “little idea form”. Learning this form we learn all of the basic movements and stances that set up the body positions required to get the mechanical advantage in a given situation. Each individual movement tends to be very, very simple.
This kind of information and learning is analogous to the basic software engineering knowledge that we give people. We teach them how to write in a language, idioms, patterns, standard architectures, frameworks, build technologies, iterative patterns etc.
However knowing which techniques apply in which situations, which play well with others and how to put them all together is another level of expertise based on experience. Teaching someone the basics does not make them a master. Software engineering, like kung fu is something you should never stop practising and learning.
It gets more complex when you add more people
Defending yourself from one attacker is a whole different ball game than defending yourself from two attackers. Defending yourself from a group of attackers breaks down the whole mixed metaphor of ballgames, sports and anything else in the vicinity. The complexity of the action increases significantly as you add more people, it’s not just a linear relationship. As more and more people are involved there are emergent behaviours that can’t be predicted from the beginning.
This is true of any activity that multiple people take part in, especially complex activities. In kung fu it means you have multiple attacks, more energy in your attackers which means once you’re tired you’re in trouble. In software it means you have multiple people doing things at the same time with subtly or radically different ideas on what should be done and the best way to do it.
The only ways to reduce this complexity in software engineering are to go up or down. We can either abstract away from the complexity moving to higher level technologies where possible (sacrificing fine control typically) although such abstraction tends to bring it’s own complexities or we can dive down and educate the team (in the broadest sends) on the complexities to try and reach a common understanding.
No plan survives contact with the enemy
Trying to plan in detail all of the details of a kung fu fight, even against a known assailant is about as pointless as trying to plan all of the details of a software project. There is too much uncertainty, too much complexity and too much emergent behaviour. Above all there is too much change. In both kung fu and software engineering we need to remain agile and responsive to change, in the environment, the different things being thrown at us and our own actions.
There’s no magical solution
We’re not in the Matrix, we can’t download kung fu skills into our heads in seconds. Or software engineering skills. These things take years to learn, will be slightly different for every individual as they tailor the standard wisdom to their particular individual skills and style.
There’s a lot to learn. Personally I work as a software development coach helping people structure and plan their work from architecture and design mentoring, SCM & Build techniques and tooling, requirements management, agile and iterative project management, portfolio and business management. In many ways these kind of things, and others similar to them, can be thought of as different styles of martial art. Just because you’re good at one of them doesn’t mean that you’re good at another, or the next new one that comes along. Of course a certain aptitude helps, and knowledge of one certainly makes others easier to learn but beware of “experts in everything”.
We can’t all be Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan or Jet Li but we get a choice about where we are on the spectrum between being a master and an armchair expert sitting on the sofa watching others do it.
Finally
I believe that there’s an exact art and subtle science to both martial arts and software engineering. We need to practice these skills, we need to be continually learning and improving. We need to learn from other styles and experienced practitioners.
“Kung Fu” is actually translated to “achievement through great effort”
If you’re in the Cheltenham, UK area come and do some kung fu with me at Chi Wai Black Belt Academy.
I’ll leave you to make your own Chuck Norris software jokes…
A quick google later and I found that the default .net framework target in the project options needed changing from 2.0 to 4.0 then it was fine. 9/10
mikemacd
