FAQ 25.1

[Xenos]

What does the author mean by: 'Nearly every software engineer has, at some
point, been exploited by someone who used coding standards as a "power
play."'

 

[Victor Bazarov]

What does the author mean by: 'Nearly every software engineer has, at some
point, been exploited by someone who used coding standards as a "power
play."'

Shouldn't you have asked the author?

Adherence to policies (whatever they might be) can be used as a tool
to control employees. "Control" here means "keep in line" or "have
power over". Coding standards are just that, policies. Whoever sets
them can be doing so to have a mechanism of control, not to attain
some obscure performance goal, no matter what that whoever says the
standards are for. Just my take on that. But you better ask the FAQ
author and maintainer if you really want to know what he means by the
quoted passage.

V

 

[jeffc]

What does the author mean by: 'Nearly every software engineer has, at some
point, been exploited by someone who used coding standards as a "power
play."'

It probably means that coding standards are a means to an end, and making
rigid rules and enforcing them dogmatically is more a way of asserting
control over programmers, rather than actually resulting in a better quality
product produced in a more efficient manner.