97 Things Every Programmer Should Know

Chapter 12. Code Is Design

Ryan Brush

IMAGINE WAKING UP TOMORROW and learning that the construction industry has made the breakthrough of the century. Millions of cheap, incredibly fast robots can fabricate materials out of thin air, have a near-zero power cost, and can repair themselves. And it gets better: given an unambiguous blueprint for a construction project, the robots can build it without human intervention, all at negligible cost.

One can imagine the impact on the construction industry, but what would happen upstream? How would the behavior of architects and designers change if construction costs were negligible? Today, physical and computer models are built and rigorously tested before investing in construction. Would we bother if the construction was essentially free? If a design collapses, no big deal—just find out what went wrong and have our magical robots build another one. There are further implications. With models obsolete, unfinished designs evolve by repeatedly building and improving upon an approximation of the end goal. A casual observer may have trouble distinguishing an unfinished design from a finished product.

Our ability to predict timelines will fade away. Construction costs are more easily calculated than design costs—we know the approximate cost of installing a girder, and how many girders we need. As predictable tasks shrink toward zero, the less predictable ...