# Standardisation: the merit of consistent patterns

DevFeed: [Standardisation: the merit of consistent patterns](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/standardisation-the-merit-of-consistent-patterns-19965.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.theguardian.com/info/2023/oct/24/standardisation-the-merit-of-consistent-patterns>)

Author: Max Duval

Published: 2023-10-24T10:18:33Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Guardian](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/guardian.md>)

Topics: [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [CI/CD](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cicd.md>), [Pull Request](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pull-request.md>), [Deployment](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/deployment.md>), [Documentation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/documentation.md>)

Tags: [cognitive-load](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cognitive-load.md>), [consistency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/consistency.md>), [continuous-deployment](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/continuous-deployment.md>), [continuous-integration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/continuous-integration.md>), [deployment](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/deployment.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [documentation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/documentation.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [pull-request](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pull-request.md>)

## AI overview

The article explains how standardised patterns, documentation, code organisation, language learning, testing, code review, and automated deployment help Guardian developers focus on tasks and reduce extraneous cognitive load across complex systems.

## Source excerpt

Coming back from a long holiday? Recently joined the department? Collaborating on a complex, cross-team problem that spans different tech stacks and programming languages? At one point, we're all going to find ourselves in one of these situations. So how can we ensure that no one feels overwhelmed or unable to make meaningful contributions? Short answer: by enabling everyone to quickly focus on the task at hand. By "focus" I simply mean deciding what is in scope and what is not. For a company that's been around for more than 200 years, and online for an eighth of that time, a proliferation of systems is bound to happen. No single person is ever going to grasp the complexity in its entirety. Zooming out, we create architectural diagrams to help us understand how the different parts fit together; and zooming in, we write code that requires as little context as necessary. discuss the benefits of standardisation; describe which tools we have created help keep consistency; offer some thoughts on balancing familiarity and innovation. Continue reading...