Charlie Parker once advised, “you learn the changes and then forget them.” Of course, he was talking about music. His advice is great for musicians of any style. We do not want to be overly academic with our music. But, I have seen many composers be more concerned about pleasing their freshman composition teacher then an audience. Huge mistake.

But I want to use this advice in another arena. I want to use this in the arena of creating software. I have seen many developers get locked into a paradigm. I have seen them completely leave the best logical solution to match a particular documented way of doing things. Or worse still, only be concerned about matching a particular diagramming method.

The algorithm, the diagramming method, and the particular programming style is not the solution. The solution is the solution. Make your solution fit the problem even if it doesn’t fit the watchword of the day.