state machines


My gut-feel is that most people who read that Shopify post agreed with it in spirit, but did nothing about it (that's kinda how it was with me). We seem to shy away from state machines due to misunderstanding of their complexity and/or an inability to quantify the benefits. But, there is less complexity than you would think and more benefits than you would expect as long you don't try to retrofit a state machine after the fact. So next time you have an object that even hints at having a "status" field, just chuck a state machine in there, you'll be glad you did. I guarantee it or your money back :).