Recently, a friend of mine and I were talking about the Big Ball of Mud pattern especially as it pertains to staffing. When you’re dealing with spaghetti, technical skills aren’t nearly as important as familiarity with the code, a truth captured nicely in this quote:
…architects depart in futility, while engineers who have mastered the muddy details of the system they have built in their images prevail…This advantage can extend to those programmers who can find their ways around such code. In a land devoid of landmarks, such guides may become indispensable.
Now, I understand that in many organizations, knowing the path through the swamp is a vital skill and many individuals have made very good livings out of being guides. But problems crop up when people start confusing comprehension with competence - knowing the back way to your house doesn’t make you Magellan.
