to the toolbar, the browser would reload the page with JavaScript on and remember that JavaScript is allowed for any page on that site for the duration of the browser session. It would also remember to ask me if I wanted to enable JavaScript permanently for that site.
With any decent scripting language (such as Perl, Tcl, Python, Ruby, or Lisp), my script would be trivial to write. Granted, such tinkerability would probably require architectural changes to the browser. It would have to be divided into components with clear interfaces, hooks would have to be added, internal data structures would have to be modified so they make sense in terms of the external interface, and so forth. That sounds like a big deal, but it's not so hard if you think about tinkerability from the start. And there are many ancillary benefits such as lower maintenance costs, contributions from a vibrant user community, and more readily testable products.
A world with tinkerable software would have as many magazines about software product improvement as about home improvement or hot rods. And just as we can improve where we live and what we drive, we could improve the software we use. I'd like to see that world.
What are your thoughts? What kind of tinkerability would you dream up?
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About the author
Brian Marick has worked in testing since 1981. He concentrates on testing in Agile projects. Brian founded Testing Foundations: Consulting in Software Testing in 1992. He is the author of The Craft of Software Testing and Everyday Scripting with Ruby.
