The only part I slightly disagree with is number seven, "Don't have multiple people editing the same code". It is best to have clear ownership of the design of a component, and consultation before major changes. But if you design for readability (number five) editing and even radically redesigning someone else's code should be normal. I find I write the best code when I assume someone as smart as me but ignorant of the problem is going to have to rewrite this tomorrow. (And this is true, even if it is me.)

By Paul's account, the different components of ViaWeb were all written in different languages. That enforces vertical silos to a degree that I'm not sure would be healthy in many projects. Just yesterday I saved my colleague a lot of time by pointing out that he was basically recreating a library function I'd already done.

Projects that have clear vertical components, and one team member per component, do move really quickly and it's tempting to think that all projects should work like that. I'm not sure that is really true of all worthwhile projects. However, it might be true for startups.