Knowledge · Anti-Patterns

Smell Insider Trading

Code smell indicating modules trading data in excessive secret ways (updated from Inappropriate Intimacy)

Impact

Software developers like to build walls between their modules and complain when modules peer into other modules' private data. Modules that trade data in secret are performing insider trading and must be caught. Well-designed modules reduce the need to know about each other's internals through clear interfaces with well-documented contracts.

Symptoms

Software developers like to build walls between their modules and complain when modules peer into other modules' private data. Modules that trade data in secret are performing insider trading and must be caught. Well-designed modules reduce the need to know about each other's internals through clear interfaces with well-documented contracts.

Source

Martin Fowler — Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, 2nd