Basic principles for building things

To build anything or everything in the world, we may follow three guiding principles:

1. Modular Design

It implies separation of many kind of things, such as division of labor and specialty, division of functional components, or division of abstract layers. An abstract layer refers to a “library” of know-hows or “code”, which is built upon (many) lower-level abstract layers and is part of the foundation for building higher-level abstract layers.

• Take computer technology as an example, the following abstract layers may be built in succession: electronics (circuits, computer chips) ➔ computer hardware ➔ programming languages ➔ operating systems ➔ communication protocols (e.g., for internet) ➔ (software) foundational libraries (e.g., I/O, math, string) ➔ (software) advanced libraries (e.g., GUI, browser engine, game engine) ➔ applications.
• To connect all the modules together to make a working system, we need means of combination (how to build compound elements from simple ones) and means of abstraction (how to encapsulate or package a modular component as a unit that can be manipulated).

2. Sufficient Testing

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Each modular component, sub-system, whole-system needs to be tested thoroughly from bottom to top (e.g., unit testing, integration testing, system testing). Tests may encompass many types (conceptual, functional, mechanical, numerical, simulational, stress testing, user testing, etc.).

3. Incremental Improvement

Every component and every system will be continuously and systematically improved over time in a gradual and steady fashion. Occasionally, it may be necessary to adopt disruptive technology or commit to major investment in new innovation.

A well-known example of using these principles is the American Moon Landing Project (Apollo) that succeeded in putting human on the moon in 1969 and took less than a decade from the project conception (1961). I recommend the following book which I am currently reading: “How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure”.