Software Design: Tidy First?

Incentives

Why So Literal?

On the failure of analogy as a communication device

Kent Beck's avatar
Kent Beck
Jun 23, 2026
∙ Paid

When I had dogs if I pointed at something interesting they would just stare at my finger. No amount of gesturing or yelling would redirect their attention. I’m starting to feel like that.

Analogies

I’ve always depended on analogy to communicate. Analogies like “XP is driving” have helped get my point across in ways that a bald statement of facts didn’t se…

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