Software Design: Tidy First?

tidyfirst.substack.com ↗

Software design as both technical and human work

Visit site ↗ Save

SI Score: 60/100
Pricing: Freemium AI reading, not confirmed
Free plan: Not confirmed
Sign-up required: Not confirmed

software-design english programming engineering-practice

Ask SI about Software Design: Tidy First?

Answers use saved listing facts and recorded sources.

What it does

Software Design: Tidy First? is Kent Beck's English-language newsletter about software development and its human relationships. Its archive includes essays about design, technique and changing programming practices.

A small design question can be a useful entry before a broader discussion of developer work. The essays invite reflection on why a technique helps, beyond simply prescribing a rule. Free posts present finished thoughts; paid posts include work in progress. The paid offer also includes Tuesday Thinkies, live coding sessions with questions and private chat.

Best for

Developers thinking about design decisions

Sources

Software Design: Tidy First? | Kent Beck | Substack (Oct 26, 2026)
Software Design: Tidy First? (Oct 26, 2026)
About - Software Design: Tidy First? (Oct 26, 2026)
The Paywall (Oct 26, 2026)

SI Score

60/100

#38 in Newsletters

Based on published information. No hands-on task test.

Method 2.0 · Published source review Assessed Oct 26, 2026Score ceiling for this evidence: 84/100.

Product usefulness 60

Evidence

60: Design essays support examining why a small software technique helps.

Limits: AI review of saved source passages. No hands-on test, human approval or automatic-provider checker receipt.

Source links and check dates are in Sources and checks below.

Separate website checks

These checks do not add points to the SI Score. They inspect the website's HTML, not the product in use.

Basic website checksunknown

No check recorded.

HTML accessibility checksunknown

No check recorded.

Homepage HTML responseunknown

No check recorded.

Trackers in homepage HTMLunknown

No check recorded.

Page date hintsunknown

No check recorded.

Policy links do not verify a company's conduct. An HTML response time is not application speed. Tracker and accessibility checks miss behavior after page load. Copyright dates do not prove product upkeep.

How the SI Score works →

Unconfirmed details may be unassessed, absent from the pages checked or temporarily unreadable. A missing price does not mean the service is free.

Sources and checks

Supporting pages for product usefulness, site facts, prices and separate website checks. Each record keeps its own date. Reading a page does not establish how well the product performs in use.

newsletter.kentbeck.com/p/the-paywall
- PricingAI reading, not confirmedChecked Oct 26, 2026
  The Paywall page explicitly distinguishes free finished posts from paid work-in-progress writing and live participation.
- Product usefulness evidenceChecked Oct 26, 2026
newsletter.kentbeck.com/
- Product usefulness evidenceChecked Oct 26, 2026
newsletter.kentbeck.com/about
- Product usefulness evidenceChecked Oct 26, 2026

Browse this categoryMore Newsletters tools

Something wrong or out of date? Send a correction and an editor will check it against the site. Owners can verify their site first so their corrections are marked as coming from the owner. Owners cannot change the score.

Suggest a correction Claim this listing