In the spirit of WarfareAsSoftwareDevelopmentMetaphor and MartialArtsAsSoftwareDevelopmentMetaphor, ChainmailAsSoftwareDevelopmentMetaphor seems a natural fit, albeit a little tongue-in-cheek.
How is chainmail a software development metaphor?
- Both are an inexact science
- Both are woven into progressively higher forms from lower forms
- Both use PiecemealGrowth
- Both deal with non-orthogonal issues constantly
- Both follow the "good, fast, cheap - pick two" rule
- OldCodeRusts and OldChainmailRusts - unless maintained
- SoftwareDevelopment uses unit tests to "armor the code", chainmail uses rings to "armor the body"
Additionally, chainmail has the following characteristics
(What's with the sudden and ubiquitous use of the word "orthogonal" in tech writing recently (in 2007)?)
I don't think it's sudden or recent, but it's definitely ubiquitous - see DefinitionOfOrthogonal.