> code rot or software rot — only sets in when changes are made, either to the code itself or to any of its dependencies.
"dependencies" is so vast here, that this definition (and following discussion) is completely useless.
A web browser "depends" on web standards - Netscape 3 rotted not because of changes, but because it didn't even support HTML4 and the web moved on.
Older games "depended" on hardware CGA/EGA/VGA quirks, or CPU timings, that were not replicated in later models.
Year2K bug is "rotten" because 30 years have passed. The dependency is on the calendar year needed to operate in.
And while we're talking about software as an organism, I believe Martin Sústrik's "Software Component's Reproductive System" essay[0] deserves more attention.
"dependencies" is so vast here, that this definition (and following discussion) is completely useless.
A web browser "depends" on web standards - Netscape 3 rotted not because of changes, but because it didn't even support HTML4 and the web moved on.
Older games "depended" on hardware CGA/EGA/VGA quirks, or CPU timings, that were not replicated in later models.
Year2K bug is "rotten" because 30 years have passed. The dependency is on the calendar year needed to operate in.
And while we're talking about software as an organism, I believe Martin Sústrik's "Software Component's Reproductive System" essay[0] deserves more attention.
[0] http://250bpm.com/blog:51