Occam's Razor

Prioritizing simplicity and minimizing unnecessary complexities

‌In the realm of software creation, prioritizing the simplest code to execute desired features proves to be the optimal approach. Leaner code not only diminishes the likelihood of bugs but also often results in faster program execution. Complexity should only be integrated when a concrete need for augmented functionality is unequivocally established.

‌Throughout the software development process, incremental complexities are infused via frequent, deliberate modifications. The incremental evolution of the software avoids overcomplication, saving invaluable time otherwise spent rectifying unnecessary errors. Increasing complexity directly correlates with elongated implementation, testing, and review periods, escalating the likelihood of project setbacks.

‌Occam’s Razor, coined by the 14th-century philosopher William of Occam, advocates choosing the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions when faced with competing ideas. These timeless principal champions simplicity over complexity, a philosophy particularly pertinent in modern software design and development. By embracing Occam’s Razor principles, software visions become clearer, implementation becomes more efficient, and testing becomes more comprehensive. Simplifying the development process benefits stakeholders and end-users alike, offering a simpler system for evaluation instead of navigating through a convoluted one.

Background

Razor Classic and Hybrid products are an integrated suite of tools that provide a comprehensive solution for software development teams, including issue and problem tracking, version control and release management. The products have been in use by NASA and NOAA, highlighted where eﬀectiveness in critical and complex software development projects.

Razor has a proven history of success in various complex software development initiatives at Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and within the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf Submarine Program. Whether an organization operates in space exploration or undersea exploration, The product trilogy suite of issues, versions and threads (baselines) has demonstrated its eﬀectiveness across various industries and challenges, making it an ideal choice for any organization seeking a reliable and comprehensive SCM solution.

Hundreds of licenses are in service at 20 diﬀerent organizations that include the US Navy, NOAA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, United Launch Alliance and Vitesco. In the past 20 years, over 10,000 perpetual licenses have been licensed and are in use across multiple countries resulting in a global product footprint.

History

Despite the changing landscapes of product development, some fundamental principles remain constant. A 1986 white paper from the Harvard Business Review noted that the traditional approach to software development, based on high quality, low cost and diﬀerentiation, was no longer suﬃcient for businesses to succeed in a highly competitive market. To excel, companies needed to be both fast and ﬂexible, with the ability to respond quickly to changing market demands.

While the speciﬁcs of software development may have changed over time, the functional principles identiﬁed in the Harvard Business Review white paper remain as relevant as ever. In an increasingly fast-paced and competitive market, businesses must embrace agility and ﬂexibility to succeed. By doing so they can deliver products that meet changing needs and stay ahead of the curve. In today’s fast-paced software development environment, meeting deadlines is more challenging than ever. Companies must be agile and able to adapt quickly to change. According to the Manifesto of 2001, sustainable software development is achieved through a series of short development cycles, known as sprints, during which teams complete a set amount of work.

Software Configuration Management

To enable this, it is critical to track and control changes within software. This process, known as software conﬁguration management (SCM), is a vital component of this methodology.

The four values of the companies manifesto, emphasize the importance of sustainable software development achieved through continuous delivery of valuable software:

‌Individuals and interactions over process and tools
Working on software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan.

Customer Journey

Razor's shorter learning curve enables the NASA development team to focus on sustainable software development. Speciﬁcally, NASA employed the Razor for the Space Shuttle’s Launch Control System, which enabled the design of consoles to communicate with ground support and measure critical data, including 40,000 temperatures, measurements, ﬂow rates, turbine speeds, voltages, valves, and switches. Razor's features were instrumental in streamlining the development process for a team of over 200 software engineers, enabling them to develop complex software with high reliability eﬃciently.

NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, leverages Razor to measure global weather patterns. Their use of it’s scripting capabilities allowed for automated overnight software extractions and builds. Due to the constantly changing weather patterns, NOAA imports new data every day and updates the baseline of their data with the help of scripting. Razor's high level of conﬁgurability enabled this process to be executed via a command line interface, allowing scripts to update the baselines for the client automatically.

Issue and Problem Tracking

Tracking: Issues can be linked to users, user groups, ﬁle operations or releases; approved task lists ensure that developers are focused on solutions and results. In addition, with this product, you can capture the power of any issues the client brings to your web browser.

Process and Workﬂow Management

The included standard process can be customized as required; controls for security and use access; signature chains; detailed audit history; notiﬁcations via e-mail by event or process condition; supports team collaboration.

Version Control & Change Management

You can track who, what, when, and why of changes; process rules can be linked to ensure quality and seamless change management.

Release Management

Release conditions are easy to set up, release deﬁnitions are archived and can be reconstructed in the future; process rules can be linked to release conditions to enforce required control.