Cohesion - Glenn Vanderburg: Blog

Cohesion - Glenn Vanderburg: Blog

Developers I encounter usually have a good grasp of coupling—not only what it means, but why it’s a problem. I can’t say the same thing about cohesion. One of the sharpest developers I know sometimes has problems with the concept, and once told me something like "that word doesn’t mean much to me." I’ve come to believe that a big part of the problem is the word "cohesion" itself. "Coupling" is something everyone understands. "Cohesion," on the other hand, is a word that is not often used in everyday language, and that lack of familiarity makes it a difficult word for people to hang a crucial concept on.

I’ve had some success teaching the concept of cohesion using an unusual approach that exploits the word’s etymology. I know that sounds unlikely, but bear with me. In my experience, it seems to register well with people.