CONCEPT
Conceptual Integrity
Brooks's term for the quality that arises when a system reflects a single, coherent design vision — the most important quality a software system can possess, and the one that only a single coordinating mind can maintain.
Conceptual integrity is the property of a system whose components fit together, behave consistently, and extend naturally because they all follow from an underlying concept. A system with conceptual integrity may lack features its users want, but the features it has will compose cleanly. A system without conceptual integrity may include every requested feature; the features will conflict, surprise, and resist extension, because there is no underlying concept from which extension could follow. Brooks argued, controversially, that conceptual integrity requires a single architect — or a small coordinating group — who holds the design and rejects modifications that violate it. Committees produce compromises; architects produce design. AI has rebuilt the conditions under which conceptual integrity is achievable by restoring the single mind, because the solo builder working with AI does not have to negotiate her design with a team.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The argument was controversial in the 1970s because it implied a hierarchy