Consequential Design

Virtual world design is about consequences.
— Designing Virtual Worlds, Chapter 2

This small line really caught my eye. I realized that I was struck by the insight that I often think of programming designs in terms of consequences. It was something that became more obvious to me when I was working this last semester because I was introduced to the fact that most programmers don't. I found that my own typical line of thinking was often "suppose that we simplify and generalize this... what would be the consequences?" and then finding ways to minimize poor consequences and enhance good consequences.