Pioneer of software engineering

David Parnas

Parnas introduced information hiding: modularise around the decisions most likely to change. Most modern ideas of encapsulation and APIs trace back to him.

Essential reading: “On the Criteria To Be Used in Decomposing Systems into Modules” (1972)
Models in this guide: 2

No. 015Systems & Structure
Coupling and Cohesion
Keep things that change together close together, and things that change independently apart.
No. 129From the Masters
Information Hiding
Decompose systems around the decisions most likely to change, and hide each behind an interface.

Coupling and Cohesion

Information Hiding