Fowler responds to a reader who complained about 'unnecessary history' in UML Distilled by defending the importance of historical context in understanding software and business practices. He argues that problematic situations exist for reasons rooted in the past, using UML's aggregation and composition concepts as an example of something that only makes sense through historical context. The post extends this principle beyond software to business practices and political life, advocating for historical investigation when encountering puzzling systems or rules.
Jul 15, 2003 legacy modernizationrequirements analysis