From b0d88a37d0abccec240137254a96dc0b85d451fc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Matt Smith Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:24:47 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Update uniformity.md - Golden paths term --- .../philosophy-and-practices/uniformity.md | 7 +++++-- 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/software-engineering/philosophy-and-practices/uniformity.md b/docs/software-engineering/philosophy-and-practices/uniformity.md index aafd3d92..c944cd9b 100644 --- a/docs/software-engineering/philosophy-and-practices/uniformity.md +++ b/docs/software-engineering/philosophy-and-practices/uniformity.md @@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ Maybe there's a more official / industry-standard term for this, but uniformity "sameness" that many organisations, managers, engineers (etc.) try to achieve when doing software engineering. Another term could be "consistency"? +Terms like _standards_, _golden paths_, _policy_, _conventions_, or "not reinventing the wheel" are all about creating +more uniformity. + Uniformity is a spectrum (very uniform to very diverse) and can be: - Prescribed @@ -100,14 +103,14 @@ My take on handling uniformity as a concept / approach: - Enable and reap the benefits of uniformity, by creating or using things that aide - Different strictness levels for prescribing uniformity: - Standards - - Guidelines + - Guidelines (aka the "Golden Path") - Conventions - Exceptions made to standards & guidelines should be documented and facilitated through a transparency and accessible decision-making process. - Conventions are optional by definition, but it should be easy to adopt and alter a convention to be bespoke to a domain / team / system. - Different concepts for enabling uniformity without prescription: Libraries, Tools, Docs, Patterns, Recommendations, - Linters / Formatters. + Linters / Formatters (these are typically also referred to as part of being a general "Golden Path") - Maintain/Modify implemented uniformity through: [alignment](./alignment.md) conversations & processes, defined fitness functions.