Muddy Waters

A fascinating view of anti-pattern/pattern Big Ball of Mud and its relatives. Big Ball of Mud is the kind of horrifically structured software we have all seen and shunned throughout our careers. Software of this sort is not just poorly architected, but lacks any architecture whatsoever. Nevertheless, the authors argue, when an approach is so pervasive and universal as this one is, there must be something it does well.

Citing shanty towns as an instance of the Big Ball of Mud pattern, the authors say:

Shantytowns emerge where there is a need for housing, a surplus of unskilled labor, and a dearth of capital investment. Shantytowns fulfill an immediate, local need for housing by bringing available resources to bear on the problem. Loftier architectural goals are a luxury that has to wait.

Traditionally good architecture in software dramatically reduces maintenance requirements and failure rates. Values that traditional software architecture respect are robustness, maintainability/low cost of maintenance, performance and efficiency. To achieve these goals, the development of such software requires software architects (not cheap), more sophisticated (and therefore more expensive) developers, and, in general, more development time.

In contrast the Big Ball of Mud development style values low cost of initial development and is willing to achieve that by accepting a relatively high cost of continuing maintenance as its solutions are not robust. It requires no architects, far less skilled developers and less initial development time. However, it may also require a larger dedicated maintenance staff.