The Way of the Code Warrior

This weekend while browsing the web I came across a reference to the Hagakure. I had no idea what this was so I looked it up and found it to be interesting, enlightening, and much of it still relevant to modern life. The Hagakure (meaning In the Shadow of Leaves) is a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the Samurai, and contains views on the bushido - the warrior code for the Samurai.

Every paragraph that I read had something deep to say (I'll spare you the pain and get to the point). Here are a few of my favorite take aways and briefly how I think they relate to software after some quick reading:

Live In The Moment
Be resolved. Do not dwell on the past, but remember it.

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else. No one seems to have noticed this fact. But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience. And once one has come to this understanding he will be a different person from that point on, though he may not always bear it in mind. When one understands this settling into single-mindedness well, his affairs will thin out. Loyalty is also contained within this single-mindedness.

It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is a thing to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same.

For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. This is the mistake of people who are attached to past generations. They have no understanding of this point.

On the other hand, people who only know the disposition of the present day and dislike the ways of the past are too lax.

Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.

Interesting: It is said that a Samurai makes a decision in a space of seven breathes.

Software needs to be useful now. Build on what you've done in the past. Once you know what your goal is do not compromise, do not be distracted.

Prepare Now

It was once said to one of the young lords that "right now'' is ''at that time, '' and ''at that time'' is ''right now.'' One will miss the occasion if he thinks that these two are different. For example, if one were called before the master to explain something right away, he would most likely be perplexed. This is proof that he understands the two to be different. If, however, a person makes "right now" and "at that time" one, though he will never be an advisor to the master, still he is a retainer, and in order to be able to say something clearly, whether it be in front of the master, the elders or even the shogun at Edo Castle, it should be practiced beforehand in the corner of one's bedroom.

All things are like this. Accordingly, one should inquire into things carefully. It is the same for martial training as for official business. When one attempts to concentrate things in this manner, won't daily negligence and today's lack of resolve be understood?

I think this one pretty much speaks for itself. We need to be prepared for what software needs are coming in our market space. We need to constantly be innovating in private so that when we are called to answer a need we are not silent.

The End is Important in All Things
Hagakure is sometimes said to assert that bushido is really the "Way of Dying" or living as though one was already dead, and that a samurai retainer must be willing to die at any moment in order to be true to his lord. This is a misreading of the statement "武士道と云ふは死ぬ事と見つけたり (The way of the samurai is found in death)", which was intended to mean that a samurai must always think of his death in order to do things well. -- Wikepedia.org

In the Kamigata area they have a sort of tiered lunch box they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. As might be expected, this is one of my recollections of the capital [Kyoto]. The end is important in all things.

Good software needs to be true to its original goal, and we should be willing to let it die at any moment in order to do so. In order to write good software we always need to keep the end goal in mind - even if it's useful lifetime is only a day.

Summary

The Hagakure isn't exactly light reading. I wouldn't keep a copy by the toilet. Maybe by the night stand though. It's contents are the kind of thing I usually find myself thinking about before I rest - did I do my best today, am I living a straight life, do I have clean socks for tomorrow. It's principles could be applied to many things, I suppose, although I chose software design. The analogy only carries so far for me - the similarities between the two have more to do with the qualities of notable people in each profession. A book is just words - it's the ideals and actions of people that makes good companies and software. I know FORUM Solutions has a "bushido code" for choosing what software to write and how it should be written, and I hope other companies do too.