---
title: "ALT.NET - Rule of Tool Composition"
url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2007/10/8/altnet-rule-of-tool-composition.md"
canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2007/10/8/altnet-rule-of-tool-composition.html"
published: "2007-10-08T19:02:36"
updated: "2007-10-08T19:02:36"
tags: [".NET", ".Net 2.0", "General Software Devel...", "altnet", "altnetconf"]
author: "Roy Osherove"
description: "There is much discussion about What ALT.NET really stands for. Most of the things discussed were very \"fluffy\" in their description and mostly meant some state of mind and openness. Here's another possible explanation:…"
usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)."
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# ALT.NET - Rule of Tool Composition

By Roy Osherove October 8, 2007 In [.NET](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net), [.Net 2.0](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-2-0), [General Software Devel...](https://osherove.com/blog/category/general-software-devel), [altnet](https://osherove.com/blog/category/altnet), [altnetconf](https://osherove.com/blog/category/altnetconf)

**Historical article** · Originally published October 8, 2007; technical details may be outdated.

There is much discussion about What [ALT.NET](http://www.altnetconf.com/) really stands for. Most of the things discussed were very "fluffy" in their description and mostly meant some state of mind and openness. Here's another possible explanation:

We are uncovering better ways to develop software as Microsoft oriented developers:

**The Rule of Composition**

- Compose your development tool set with just enough tools to make your job easier
- Always check to see if you can enhance your productivity, quality of work or confidence in your work by adding to or replacing a tool your are working with.
- Tools are not an end. they are a means to an end.
- Languages can also be considered as tools
- Do not stay still in your knowledge.

In the end, a composition of tools can provide a better X for you or your team where X could mean:

- Maintainability
- Quality
- Readability
- Confidence
- understanding
- productivity
- Communication

De-Composition can also lead to a better X. Removing a tool that prevents you from doing your job or replacing it is advisable if you feel that is what's needed. In  any case, always challenge your assumptions about how productive, confident or good your are as a coder. Reach out and read, learn and try other options.

Tools can also be frameworks, plugins, languages, knowledge, patterns and approaches to existing problems.

## More in .NET

[All posts in .NET](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net)

- Oct 23, 2007

    ### [Dave Platt In Israel - CAB Fans Prepare yourself](https://osherove.com/blog/2007/10/23/dave-platt-in-israel-cab-fans-prepare-yourself.html)

- Oct 21, 2007

    ### [The ALT.NET Mailing list is a great place to have a conversation](https://osherove.com/blog/2007/10/21/the-altnet-mailing-list-is-a-great-place-to-have-a-conversat.html)

- Oct 6, 2007

    ### [Microsoft gets Design For Testability with new MVC framework for ASP.NET- Finally.](https://osherove.com/blog/2007/10/6/microsoft-gets-design-for-testability-with-new-mvc-framework.html)

- Sep 27, 2007

    ### [Pimp My Visual Studio](https://osherove.com/blog/2007/9/27/pimp-my-visual-studio.html)


---

## About the author

**Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery.

### Sites

- [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership.
- [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts.
- [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin.
- [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model.
- [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps.
- [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes).

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### License

Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/