Stages of the Software Legacy Lifecycle

Software has a life cycle just like everything else, and sometimes even goes beyond into the after-life (in keeping with this season, that's zombie-hood).  We've all had to deal with legacy code, either as developers or as users.  I've developed a 13 point scale to measure legacy-ness of software from inception (1) to death (12) and beyond into zombie-hood (13).  The following guidelines to help you place where the code you are working on or using might fit into.

The form of this is "Stage / What They Say / What They are Thinking", followed by what it might really mean when talking to someone who knows something (perhaps not much) about the code in question.

1. First Date / May be Coming Soon / Never heard of that one before.

• The product manager hasn't heard that idea before, but it sounds intriguing.  Could you say more?

2. Talking about It / In a Future Major Release / Heard of that, still thinking about it.

• There's an open requisition for the architect who can design that.
• It's not in the plans.

3. Engaged / In a Future Release / Heard of that, think it might be useful.

• The architect knows what needs to happen, but needs to document it.
• There's an open requisition for the engineers who can write that.
• It's in not in the plans yet.

4. Twinkle / In the Next Major Release / Heard of that, pretty sure it's useful.

• There's an open requisition for the architect who can design that.
• It's in the plans.

5. Pregnancy / Coming Soon / Know what that is, planning on it.

• The architect knows what needs to happen, but may need to document it.
• There's an open requisition for engineers who can write that.
• It's in the plans.

6. Birthing / In the Next Release / Know what that is, implementing it.

• The architect knows what needs to happen, and has documented it.
• There are engineers who know how to write that code.
• It's in the plans.

7. Infancy / Piloting / Still working the details out.

• The architect knows what needs to happen, and has documented it.
• There are engineers wrote that code.
• There are still some bugs preventing full shipping.

8. Childhood / It's in Production Today / Implemented it.

• The architect who designed it is still around.
• The engineers who wrote it are still assigned to the project.
• It shipped.

9. Adult / In Maintenance / Been there, done that, losing interest.

• The last engineer who knows how that works is leaving the company for another opportunity.
• An open requisition exists for an engineer to maintain that which is expected to be filled soon (hopefully before the last engineer who knows how that works leaves).

10. Middle-Age / Reaching the End of Life / Losing interest.

• The last engineer who knows how all of that works left the company for another opportunity.
• There's an intern who can compile it and can fix the occasional bug.

11. Elderly / Legacy / Lost interest but the customer's haven't.

• The person who wrote that retired.
• The engineer who took it over from left the company for another opportunity.
• This is an engineer or intern who maintains that and understands how some of it works.

12. Dead / End of Life / Customers have lost interest.

• The intern who maintains that goes back to school full-time next week (or at least that's what they said).

13. Zombie-Hood / Extreme Legacy / Everybody else BUT the customers have lost interest.

For that mission critical software that just can't go to end of life.

• The guy who wrote that is dead, 
• The person who took it over from him has retired, 
• The engineer hired to maintain it quit,
• There's an intern who can run the legacy compiler used for it and who can fix the occasional bug.
• Nobody else knows how that any of that works anymore.

Just like real life (in the movied), death and zombie-hood can happen to software at just about any time, and death isn't really a prerequisite stage before zombie-hood.

   -- Keith

Security and Privacy: Where are we headed

So, the new iPhone's are here, along with new security features.  Combine that with this recent bit in my inbox and I have a few predictions.

A study published in Healthcare Informatics Research finds 73 percent of medical professionals have used another staff member's password to access a patient's electronic health record at work, HealthITSecurity reports.

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Facial recognition, will be used to solve for this problem.  Patient safety advocates will jump in to take advantage of the technology, which will be followed shortly thereafter by the computer saying, you look tired, are you sure you should be caring for patients …

At some point in time, this will move into the commercial domain (e.g., software developers, others creating IP).  It will expand into eavesdropping protection, which will lead to DOS attacks by small children popping their heads up in the seat behind you while you are trying to get work done on the plane or train or subway.

At some point at an IHE Connecthon, all testing work will stop as we all have to get exceptions to have competitors in the same room with our code, but cannot complete the process with them standing too close. This will lead to an eventual revolt against security and privacy altogether as similar challenges pop up across the business spectrum.

Eventually we will give up altogether on having any sort of privacy or security, and the world will live peacefully together.

   Keith

P.S. And then the aliens come and wipe us all out because we couldn't even hide from them properly.

With Apologies to Dire Straights (and Sting)

I want my, I want my CCD.

Now look at them yo-yo's, that's the way you do it
You get your money with the CCD.
That ain't working, that's the way to do it
Money for nothing and EHR for free

Now that ain't working, that's the way you do it
Let me tell you them guys ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb

We got to install microfilm viewers
for all these paper documents
We got to move these file cabinets
We got to move these fax machines

The little faggot with the earring and the chopper
Yeah buddy, that's his own hair
That little faggot got his own blog page
That little faggot he's on twitter there

We got to install microfilm viewers
for all these paper documents
We got to move these file cabinets
We got to move these fax machines