diff --git a/_posts/2024-05-02-identifiers-are-better-off-without-meaning.md b/_posts/2024-05-02-identifiers-are-better-off-without-meaning.md index 225bba3..836199a 100644 --- a/_posts/2024-05-02-identifiers-are-better-off-without-meaning.md +++ b/_posts/2024-05-02-identifiers-are-better-off-without-meaning.md @@ -79,9 +79,10 @@ project, but doable. What wasn't possible was to run a find/replace across the private documentation and workflows of your entire customer base. -If you look closely, the world is full of semantic identifiers. They are -almost invariably a pain in the neck because they embed a specific model -of the world. But models become obsolete faster than we'd like. +If you look closely, the world is full of semantic identifiers. +Sometimes they are hard to avoid, but almost always a pain in +the neck. Because they embed a specific model of the world. But models +become obsolete faster than we'd like. Addresses make notable examples. The "complex and idiosyncratic" [Japanese address @@ -108,3 +109,10 @@ after the team that owns that service, something like "owner-team-access-list". Identifiers tied to the org chart don't like it when the service moves to another team, or owner-team is reorged away. + +-- + +*Update: a commenter in Reddit pointed at another great example of +problems of identifiers with semantics: the [German tank +problem](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_tank_problem). Do send +more!*