In
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
and
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...
, "stovepipe system" is a pejorative term for a
system
A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...
that has the potential to share data or functionality with other systems but which does not do so. The term evokes the image of stovepipes rising above buildings, each functioning individually. A simple example of a stovepipe system is one that implements its own user IDs and passwords, instead of relying on a common user ID and password shared with other systems.
Stovepipes are
A stovepipe system is generally considered an example of an
anti-pattern
An anti-pattern in software engineering, project management, and business processes is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive. The term, coined in 1995 by computer programmer An ...
, particularly found in
legacy system
In computing, a legacy system is an old method, technology, computer system, or application program, "of, relating to, or being a previous or outdated computer system", yet still in use. Often referencing a system as "legacy" means that it paved ...
s. This is due to the lack of
code reuse
In software development (and computer programming in general), code reuse, also called software reuse, is the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software, following the reusability principles.
Code reuse may be achiev ...
, and resulting
software brittleness
In computer programming and software engineering, software brittleness is the increased difficulty in fixing older software that may appear reliable, but actually fails badly when presented with unusual data or altered in a seemingly minor way. The ...
due to potentially general functions only being used on limited input.
However, in certain cases stovepipe systems are considered appropriate, due to benefits from
vertical integration
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...
and avoiding
dependency hell Dependency hell is a colloquial term for the frustration of some software users who have installed software packages which have dependencies on specific versions of other software packages.
The dependency issue arises when several packages have d ...
.
[''Joel on Software,'']
In Defense of Not-Invented-Here Syndrome
, by Joel Spolsky
Avram Joel Spolsky (born 1965) is a software engineer and writer. He is the author of ''Joel on Software'', a blog on software development, and the creator of the project management software Trello. He was a Program Manager on the Microsoft Exce ...
, October 14, 2001 For example, the
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android and iOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro (comp ...
team has avoided dependencies and even maintained its own C compiler, which helped it to ship on time, have high-quality code, and generate small, cross-platform code.
See also
*
Not invented here
Not invented here (NIH) is the tendency to avoid using or buying products, research, standards, or knowledge from external origins. It is usually adopted by social, corporate, or institutional cultures. Research illustrates a strong bias against i ...
*
Reinventing the wheel
To reinvent the wheel is to attempt to duplicate—most likely with inferior results—a basic method that has already previously been created or optimized by others.
The inspiration for this idiomatic metaphor is that the wheel is an ancient ar ...
*
Stovepipe (organisation)
References
Anti-patterns
Software maintenance
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