Standing Firm in Software

Dr. Tony Evans once said, "When it comes to taking a stand, too many of us have our feet planted firmly in mid-air."

He meant it in the context of knowing your faith and standing by it when, maybe  even especially when, it's not popular.  So true.  It reminds me of my beloved U.S. Marine Corps motto: "Semper Fidelis," which means always faithful.  But that was another time and place...

It's worth considering that standing firm applies to many things, not excluding software.  So how are we supposed to do this, exactly?   

Staying on solid ground is simple: know why you do what you do and stay true to it.  Off the top of my head, here are some software stands worth taking, and why:

• Refactor mercilessly. Do this because it makes code easier to understand and more maintainable, extending its usefullness. Why?  This benefits the end user.
• Do just-enough design. Do it because it admits that you can't know it all up front and must continually seek feedback to get it right.  Why?  This benefits the end user.
• Take the fastest, correct path.  It means being pragmatic but not giving in to tempting shortcuts.  It means adopting solutions that may not seem 'perfect.'  Doing anything else will always cost more in the long run.  Do this, why?  Because doing the right thing, as expediently as possible, benefits to the end-user (in the end).
  

In short, we take stands as software developers because doing so reaps the most benefit for our users in the end.  This doesn't need much more justification.  Knowing this, tough technical choices under the pressure of management, the market, or whatever, can and should always be planted squarely on terra firma.