We covered a lot of ground in this chapter. First, we talked about the perils of fragmented development efforts. You learned about its link to post-release defects. You also learned to analyze the problem and visualize the result with fractal figures. With fractal figures, you got an overview of how the development was shared.
We then took the idea to the system level. You’ve already learned that much of our time as software developers is spent communicating. Now you’ve seen how to build a knowledge map of your codebase to help you find the correct person to discuss a particular feature or piece of code with. We also saw that these techniques go beyond programming and provide information useful to technical managers as well.
Our fractal figures and maps are based on how we as developers have worked so far. The measure we used builds on a concept called code churn. Code churn measures the rate at which our code evolves. By digging deeper into the subject, you’ll be able to predict defects, identify unstable parts in your system, and even gain important information about the real process your team follows. Let’s see how it works!