The pinball wizard
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I am a very experienced developer, but I find that my 'process' when I start on some new bit of functionality or sub-system is pretty much bounce off the walls for a while, trying this, discarding it, trying that, discarding it, keep a bit of that attempt, keep a bit of that one, etc... Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications. All it would result in is that I took a lot of time writing down in detail the first bounce off the first wall, which was then discarded on the way towards the next wall. Some might say it is time wasting, but ultimately I think it's a wash. The time I would have spent looking 'professional' and writing a bunch of stuff down just gets traded off for trying various things until I find what I like. Given that I almost never do the same thing twice, all the stuff I might write down would mostly be guesses that are probably about as likely to be wrong as right once I really dig into the practical realities of it. And, in the end, I can know for sure that various things that I might have initially discarded really should be discarded, as opposed to actually being a better idea than the one I wrote down so carefully. Am I the only one who uses the 'Chaos Pattern' as a development tool?
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It's called "Agile Development". Just tell people that you're working through iterations. That's what I do, anyway.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor
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I am a very experienced developer, but I find that my 'process' when I start on some new bit of functionality or sub-system is pretty much bounce off the walls for a while, trying this, discarding it, trying that, discarding it, keep a bit of that attempt, keep a bit of that one, etc... Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications. All it would result in is that I took a lot of time writing down in detail the first bounce off the first wall, which was then discarded on the way towards the next wall. Some might say it is time wasting, but ultimately I think it's a wash. The time I would have spent looking 'professional' and writing a bunch of stuff down just gets traded off for trying various things until I find what I like. Given that I almost never do the same thing twice, all the stuff I might write down would mostly be guesses that are probably about as likely to be wrong as right once I really dig into the practical realities of it. And, in the end, I can know for sure that various things that I might have initially discarded really should be discarded, as opposed to actually being a better idea than the one I wrote down so carefully. Am I the only one who uses the 'Chaos Pattern' as a development tool?
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Nope, I'm using Chaos Dev right now. I've re-written all of the compoents for a web project template at least twixe, and a handful of those at least three times. I've tried creating EF data models more than a dozen times. Since this is going to be used as a basis for all of our apps, it has to be as close to correct as possible before it gets deployed to the rest of the team. Hell, I'm on the 5th iteration of the template. Chaos is very much in Chontrol.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013 -
I am a very experienced developer, but I find that my 'process' when I start on some new bit of functionality or sub-system is pretty much bounce off the walls for a while, trying this, discarding it, trying that, discarding it, keep a bit of that attempt, keep a bit of that one, etc... Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications. All it would result in is that I took a lot of time writing down in detail the first bounce off the first wall, which was then discarded on the way towards the next wall. Some might say it is time wasting, but ultimately I think it's a wash. The time I would have spent looking 'professional' and writing a bunch of stuff down just gets traded off for trying various things until I find what I like. Given that I almost never do the same thing twice, all the stuff I might write down would mostly be guesses that are probably about as likely to be wrong as right once I really dig into the practical realities of it. And, in the end, I can know for sure that various things that I might have initially discarded really should be discarded, as opposed to actually being a better idea than the one I wrote down so carefully. Am I the only one who uses the 'Chaos Pattern' as a development tool?
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Dean Roddey wrote:
Given that I almost never do the same thing twice
I find that hard to believe. Sure, at a high level, yes, but at a low level, DB access, file I/O, even device I/O, rendering web pages, creating UI's (pick you tech poison), writing workflows, possibly dealing with threads, modularization, test fixtures, etc., are all rather common activities. But maybe that's all just the commonality of my world. :)
Latest Article - Azure Function - Compute Pi Stress Test Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
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I am a very experienced developer, but I find that my 'process' when I start on some new bit of functionality or sub-system is pretty much bounce off the walls for a while, trying this, discarding it, trying that, discarding it, keep a bit of that attempt, keep a bit of that one, etc... Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications. All it would result in is that I took a lot of time writing down in detail the first bounce off the first wall, which was then discarded on the way towards the next wall. Some might say it is time wasting, but ultimately I think it's a wash. The time I would have spent looking 'professional' and writing a bunch of stuff down just gets traded off for trying various things until I find what I like. Given that I almost never do the same thing twice, all the stuff I might write down would mostly be guesses that are probably about as likely to be wrong as right once I really dig into the practical realities of it. And, in the end, I can know for sure that various things that I might have initially discarded really should be discarded, as opposed to actually being a better idea than the one I wrote down so carefully. Am I the only one who uses the 'Chaos Pattern' as a development tool?
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Dean Roddey wrote:
Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications.
I always make specs, because it helps the customer to realize what he/she is asking for; I'll try to make sure that I'm building what they need, and not my personal interpretation of what they might need. Next, a minimal UI is drawn, and any logic described. Once those exist, I usually move on to datastructures, formulating a (normalized) database-scheme if it needs persistence. I see a lot of other people immediatly firing up VS when they get a new project, and starting to code. Still, if I am given 8 hours to chop down a tree, I'll spend 6 hours sharpening my axe. Good preparation always pays back :thumbsup:
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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I am a very experienced developer, but I find that my 'process' when I start on some new bit of functionality or sub-system is pretty much bounce off the walls for a while, trying this, discarding it, trying that, discarding it, keep a bit of that attempt, keep a bit of that one, etc... Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications. All it would result in is that I took a lot of time writing down in detail the first bounce off the first wall, which was then discarded on the way towards the next wall. Some might say it is time wasting, but ultimately I think it's a wash. The time I would have spent looking 'professional' and writing a bunch of stuff down just gets traded off for trying various things until I find what I like. Given that I almost never do the same thing twice, all the stuff I might write down would mostly be guesses that are probably about as likely to be wrong as right once I really dig into the practical realities of it. And, in the end, I can know for sure that various things that I might have initially discarded really should be discarded, as opposed to actually being a better idea than the one I wrote down so carefully. Am I the only one who uses the 'Chaos Pattern' as a development tool?
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Dean Roddey wrote:
Am I the only one who uses the 'Chaos Pattern' as a development tool?
No, That's what I do, too. I usually start with an outline in code, perhaps as comments, then start fleshing out and testing as I add pieces. I tried writing detailed specs first and found it to be a waste of time as I quickly found the need to modify the specs for reason of practical implementation.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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Dean Roddey wrote:
Given that I almost never do the same thing twice
I find that hard to believe. Sure, at a high level, yes, but at a low level, DB access, file I/O, even device I/O, rendering web pages, creating UI's (pick you tech poison), writing workflows, possibly dealing with threads, modularization, test fixtures, etc., are all rather common activities. But maybe that's all just the commonality of my world. :)
Latest Article - Azure Function - Compute Pi Stress Test Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
You'd have to know my situation for it to make sense I guess. I'm the author of a huge project, about a million lines of code, that I've built from the ground up. The bottom half is all general purpose code, and it long ago encapsulated all of those things for reuse. So I don't have to really ever repeat myself, repeat myself. It's always upwards and onwards, though of course sometimes I do circle around and shore up my rear guard before going back to the front. But it's almost always diving into some big new problem domain. The general purpose part of it I recently open sourced: GitHub - DeanRoddey/CIDLib: The CIDLib general purpose C++ development environment[^] The top part is a very powerful automation system called CQC (www.charmedquark.com).
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Dean Roddey wrote:
Since I work alone there's no point in writing specifications.
I always make specs, because it helps the customer to realize what he/she is asking for; I'll try to make sure that I'm building what they need, and not my personal interpretation of what they might need. Next, a minimal UI is drawn, and any logic described. Once those exist, I usually move on to datastructures, formulating a (normalized) database-scheme if it needs persistence. I see a lot of other people immediatly firing up VS when they get a new project, and starting to code. Still, if I am given 8 hours to chop down a tree, I'll spend 6 hours sharpening my axe. Good preparation always pays back :thumbsup:
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
For me, I am the 'customer', and the boss, and the code monkey.
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For me, I am the 'customer', and the boss, and the code monkey.
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With my life... But I assumed he meant customer as in he's a contract programmer and the customer is the company he's writing the code for. BTW, I have to report that I don't pay me well, and the benefits suck.
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With my life... But I assumed he meant customer as in he's a contract programmer and the customer is the company he's writing the code for. BTW, I have to report that I don't pay me well, and the benefits suck.
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Dean Roddey wrote:
With my life... But I assumed he meant customer as in he's a contract programmer and the customer is the company he's writing the code for.
I don't assume; and it's not a very good idea to place yourself in the customers' seat.
Dean Roddey wrote:
BTW, I have to report that I don't pay me well, and the benefits suck.
Have you considered threathening yourself with a strike? :D
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
