Implicit versus explicit

In a very larg telecommunications application I was supposed to review, the software architects had introduced a strict layering to shield different abstraction of functionality from each other. One of the lower layers comprised the database system, while the topmost layer consisted of the application UIs. Whenever something in the DBMS layer changed, the UIs broke. This shouldn’t happen according to the software architecture document. Thus, I asked the UI developer whether he abided by the strict layering. His answer was no, because he got the order to optimize performance which required him to access the data directly. What we see, is a typical example of implicit design decisions. When designers or developers break the architecture or use it in an unanticipated way without communicating the issue to software architects, this will inevitably lead to severe problems which are typically hard or even impossible to detect.

In another project the development organization built a GUI for a monitoring framework. After the application had been relaesed, customers started to complain about a feature they were expecting but which was missing. This illustrates what happens if requirements engineering or customers have implicit expectations. Unfortunately, these requirements change over the years. While 20 years ago almost every developer was satisfied with command line compilers and had to explicitly specify she would prefer more IDE-like environments, today this feature is considered an implicit requirement. You don’t need to mention it explicitely anymore. KANO-Analysis is a perfect tool for such investigations. For programming environments this is very obvious bút what if you’re working in a domain where you don’t know about all these hidden requirements. Thus, mind all invisiple traps.

There are two conclusions we can draw from these examples:

1. In a software development project, any information should be made explicit, even facts we normally believe every stakeholder should know. If communication among stakeholders is the most important asset in such projects, nothing shall remain implicit. Implicit information is unavailable information!
2. In every project we need enforcement. Requirements engineering must enforce that the development team really knows and uses all requirements. In a specification all implicit requirements must be turned into explicit requirements, because implicit requirements are typically swallowed by black holes. Software architects must enforce the architecture by closely cooperating with developers and must ensure quality by closely cooperating with testers.

Work based on implicit information can only possibly work in small teams that use an agile approach and where every team member has an explicit knowledge of implicit information. But do you dare to take the risk that all information gaps are really closed?

Always be an explicit software architect without a hidden agenda!