______ __
/ ____/___ _____/ /___ ______ ___
/ /_ / __ \/ ___/ __/ / / / __ \/ _ \
/ __/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ / / / / __/
/_/ \____/_/ \__/\__,_/_/ /_/\___/
Adopted kids are such a pain -- you have to teach them how to look
like you ...
-- Gilda Radner
Nearly every software professional has heard the term spaghetti code as a
pejorative description for complicated, difficult to understand, and impossible
to maintain, software. However, many people may not know the other two
elements of the complete Pasta Theory of Software.
Lasagna code is used to describe software that has a simple, understandable,
and layered structure. Lasagna code, although structured, is unfortunately
monolithic and not easy to modify. An attempt to change one layer conceptually
simple, is often very difficult in actual practice.
The ideal software structure is one having components that are small and
loosely coupled; this ideal structure is called ravioli code. In ravioli
code, each of the components, or objects, is a package containing some meat
or other nourishment for the system; any component can be modified or replaced
without significantly affecting other components.
We need to go beyond the condemnation of spaghetti code to the active
encouragement of ravioli code.
-- Raymond J. Rubey, in a letter to the editor of Crosstalk
magazine
The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid
prejudice.
-- Mark Twain
Excellence is THE trend of the '80s. Walk into any shopping
mall bookstore, go to the rack where they keep the best-sellers such as
"Garfield Gets Spayed", and you'll see a half-dozen books telling you
how to be excellent: "In Search of Excellence", "Finding Excellence",
"Grasping Hold of Excellence", "Where to Hide Your Excellence at Night
So the Cleaning Personnel Don't Steal It", etc.
-- Dave Barry, "In Search of Excellence"
Man, n.:
An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks
he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief
occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which,
however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole
habitable earth and Canada.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
His great aim was to escape from civilization, and, as soon as he had
money, he went to Southern California.
If you're not very clever you should be conciliatory.
-- Benjamin Disraeli
Polymer physicists are into chains.
Wednesday, 1 April 2026 Michael J. Chappell Contact me at:
mcsuper5@freeshell.org
