generality : Java Glossary

2007-08-03 by Roedy Green ©1996-2008 Canadian Mind Products
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generality: There are two kinds of generality: good and bad. Good generality is sometimes called abstraction. This is where you discover the essential core to a class of problems that all behave the same way, then encapsulate it, e.g Collection. Bad generality when you metaphorically invent a processor with switch on the front with settings “food” and “word” Everything you need to make adjustable to your solution is usually thought of as a feature. I think of it as the combinatorial explosion of test cases you need to ensure the code works properly. Don’t needlessly make everything configurable. If worse comes to worse, clients can modify the source code and make themselves responsible for the consequences. Obviously, there are many things you can completely safely make configurable without any additional testing.
Think of a highly adjustable chair. It is not as stable as a fixed chair. The same applies to computer programs.

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