This page documents important Dense Analysis philosophy used to teach important concepts to the public. Sections ought to be ordered alphabetically, and represent independent concepts.
An important aspect of Dense Analysis is the phrase itself. Much as one can “google” something to search, one can apply “dense analysis.” To analyse something “densely,” one applies analysis that is both “dumb” and also “deep.” Applying the KISS Principle to analysis, you need to remember to not overthink things. Treat your very thoughts and process as time-sensitive, and timebox your analysis. Recognise the Dunning-Kruger effect as being present in your own mind, and embrace simple ideas. Be smart by being “dumb.”
What most in this world consider to be Object-oriented programming (OOP) is on average nothing but a gigantic mess of classes and inheritance that never builds towards software that can be maintained or understood over time. A struct or class in any language is only designed to be a means of constructing types, and languages such as Java have poisoned the mind of the public into thinking that classes solve all problems: they do not. Problems are solved by implementing procedures. We call this mind poison “Class-oriented Programming,” or “COP” for short.
For more information on how to re-learn the true virtues of Object-oriented Programming, please review the following lecture by James Coplien.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbuXxB7j260
Concept: When expectations are not perfectly aligned, and things you shouldn’t care about become a problem all of a sudden.
A long time ago in a land near the sea, a colleague of @Andrew Wray’s was working as an engineer of burritos. His manager Esmeralda had a routine whereby she would ask the staff to tidy up the burrito establishment at close. After the staff had concluded cleaning up the establishment, Esmeralda would ask the staff to confirm they had finished cleaning the entire establishment from top to bottom. After staff confirmed they had in fact cleaned everything, Esmeralda would reach into some unforgettable place in the restaurant and produce a spoon, and she would say, “You didn’t clean everything! You didn’t find this spoon!”
Esmeralda possessed unrealistic expectations about the cleanliness of the restaurant and was a poor communicator, and terrible team manager. Her antics only served to annoy those she managed. This tale is an example of when managers fail to communicate their expectations accurately to staff, demonstrate a lack of trust in staff, and where surprises come from out of nowhere that you, as a member of staff, could not have been prepared for.
An “Esmeralda’s Spoon” 🥄refers to any situation where some terrible and unknowable thing is suddenly brought about and emerges as a priority from seemingly out of nowhere. These incidents can be referred to as “a spoon” 🥄, for short. Learn to do additional discovery and learn how to deal with the emergence of random and unexpected failures.