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Shift Left Is the Tip of the Iceberg

(semiengineering.com)
179 points yatrios | 3 comments | 19 Nov 24 14:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.992s | source
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0xbadcafebee ◴[19 Nov 24 15:15 UTC] No.42184298[source]▶
For those not aware, Shift Left[1] is (at this point) an old term that was coined for a specific use case, but now refers to a general concept. The concept is that, if you do needed things earlier in a product cycle, it will end up reducing your expense and time in the long run, even if it seems like it's taking longer for you to "get somewhere" earlier on. I think this[2] article is a good no-nonsense explainer for "Why Shift Left?".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shift-left_testing [2] https://www.dynatrace.com/news/blog/what-is-shift-left-and-w...

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bigs ◴[19 Nov 24 19:58 UTC] No.42187463[source]▶
Sounds like a similar/parallel thought to the project management waterfall paradigm whereby the earlier you get things correct (left) the less costly it is in the long run or conversely if you have to go and re-do things later on (right) you’re in for a shock (either cost, time or quality).
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1. tromp ◴[19 Nov 24 21:29 UTC] No.42188286[source]▶
Funny how correct is not associated with right. The normal association is reflected in he Haskell Either datatype for describing computations that either run into some error (Left error) or run successfully producing a value (Right value).
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2. lolinder ◴[19 Nov 24 23:34 UTC] No.42189226[source]▶
That's because the association isn't right or wrong, it's progressing or not progressing, deriving from reading order. A Left value typically halts computation there and returns something to the user, whereas a Right value allows you to move on.

One nice side effect of tying the mnemonic to reading direction rather than homonyms is that it carries over across languages better (though still imperfectly).

3. Centigonal ◴[21 Nov 24 04:15 UTC] No.42201048[source]▶
a sinister observation, dexterously phrased.