Ask HN: Map of Software?

[terse_malvolio]

There was recently some post about a map of mathematics, and I remember seeing one for map of physics or map of computer science.

Is there such a thing for software?

How would it be structured?

[yesenadam]

> How would it be structured?

However you like. The purpose of the software - e.g. communication, business, system control etc - seems more essential than the language or the programming paradigm. Although languages are themselves one software purpose.

It could be like a tree growing upwards, with more and more areas/branches appearing, and in each, early prototypes and later mainstream giants. Some are popular only for a few years, others for decades..

[Grustaf]

Software in general? I'm not sure what that would even mean. But I once made a visualiser for how classes in a given app fit together.

[terse_malvolio → Grustaf]

I imagine I'd partition it between open source and proprietary and then by categories of use.

I was inspired to ask this question by the recurring mentions of 'reinventing the wheel' without a good reference wheel catalogue