Just do it (again)
| 2/9/2011 | Posted by Pete under Software |
Plan to throw one away, you will anyway
It is a well known axiom in computer science that the first system or prototype you develop will need to be discarded. There are a number of factors that can contribute to this. Firstly, the understanding you gain on what the system needs to do from actually building the system quite frequently means that it would make more sense to completely redo the project or code.
Secondly there could be some improvements that you could make after seeing the system in operation, ranging from performance optimisation to additional features that would be useful.
There are doubtless many other reasons that could be brought up. However, I’d like to point out a couple of points on this.
It is not always a bad thing to have to start again. Sometimes this is exactly what is needed, although it is far from the axiomic truth that is is purported to be.
System designers and project managers rarely take this into account when planning and designing new systems. This can lead to project overruns, in terms of budget, time and lead to low quality deliverables.
Agile solutions are proposed as an answer to this, but I remain unconvinced. I definitely see these techniques as being better than the traditional waterfall methodology for a large proportion of projects, but I am convinced that there needs to be a fundamental change in the way we develop and manage large software products.
I will hopefully get round to posting my thoughts on how this can be achieved in the near future.
I would appreciate any comments on this subject.
Similar Posts:
- Omnifocus for iPhone/iPod Touch
- Notemeister
- Another week
- Getting to comment on other people’s giraffes, like blog posts
- How to write an excellent Best Man’s Speech
Recent Comments