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People are still out there winging it!
People say they don't have time to plan?
No time to plan is just poor planning and crap project management.
I manage a CMM Level 3 group and coding is about 30% of our overall project time. We have never had an unsuccessful development project if any aspect of scope, customer satisfaction, budget, and time.
We create reusable object so each project takes less time than the last.
Rework is at a all time low, and we are down to one phase of system and user testing.
To achieve this you MUST have formal requirement and a formal design (functional design, or Object Oriented model, and a data design). You design must have traceability back to the requirement and so must your code.
If you not convinced of formal development project planning by now you just a cowboy.
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Yes this all sounds very familiar, I used to work for a large multinational (in fact I am more than sure it was the same one as yourself "Experienced Analyst"), where developers coding was less than 5% of the total project time. CMM and other project related restrictions blew single day projects out to over a week. and six month projects could take years. Useless paperwork absorbed more than 70% of my time.
Carry on cowboys, I simply jump in and code now, and even when I rework, I still finish way ahead.
I have achieved more in one year working like a "cowboy", than I achieved in 4 years following paper trails.
And oh yes, my coding has always met customer satisfaction, and budgets and time are not an issue, because I am not wasting them.
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I am thoroughly surprised how many people "Wing It". I thought this was a bad habit that few people followed.
Truthfully most people don't have time to plan for a project, most of the time is spent coding.
C++ - Pure, Simple, Makes Sense.
C# - Microsoft's idea of Pure and Simple
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I've ran into a lot of bad programming before. It's not very amazing that a lot of people "wing it".
I do find you sig funny. My thoughts:
C++ - simple, makes sense
C# - simpler, makes a lot more sense, and a lot fast to develope your solution since you dont have to do as much extra plumbing
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It is funny how many people comment about my sig
C++ - Pure, Simple, Makes Sense.
C# - Microsoft's idea of Pure and Simple
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I suppose use case diagrams fall into the Modeling Tool category. They can be invaluable when modeling an existing business process that is being "computerized".
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UML can be really good for class design, but I never use tools to do it. I find I spend way too much time trying to use the tool and get it to do what I want. So I draw my diagrams on paper, which is a highly iterative process, then when i am close, I may put it on a whiteboard, take a photo, and put it on a project wiki.
Now I write my classes out as skeleton code, with no implementation, then I reverse engineer (VS.Net 2003) to UML. It is a lot quicker for me to code in words and create a diagram via automation than to use a UML tool to create the diagrams to create my skeleton code.
Then begins the Test Driven Development, writing tests and implementing the code.
Being in a minority of one, doesn't make you insane George Orwell However, in my case it does
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I believe the correct term is refactoring
Live and die by the code!
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We all have to admit, however, that most of our work is modifying code, not writing it afresh.
In this area, there is no substitute for reading and understanding the code that's already there and finding the EXACT point where the modification can be made. Then do the minimum change and the maximum comment and don't make it more difficult for the next time around.
Its like surgery. If you were under the knife, wouldnt you appreciate waking up with just a headache.
Paul
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I tend to underestimate design. I know that design is very important especially when you are doing a big project. So far i`m doing only a little design,and it`s really causing me a lot of trouble. To those people who don`t plan, I`m advising u to do so. It will help you a lot.
<italic>Work hard and a bit of luck is the key to success.
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Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.
Trite, I know, but nonetheless true in all fields of endeavor, not just software.
"My kid was Inmate of the Month at Adobe Mountain Juvenile Corrections Center" - Bumper Sticker in Bullhead City
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if it doesn't work you just shuffle the deck and start again.
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netclectic wrote:
if it doesn't work you just shuffle the deck and start again.
That's also known as refactoring code.
"My kid was Inmate of the Month at Adobe Mountain Juvenile Corrections Center" - Bumper Sticker in Bullhead City
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I tend to do a lot of planning in my head, and then start by writing interfaces to define the methods that I think I'll need. I may do some work with pen and paper, but often I don't need to. Does that mean I am winging it ?
Christian
I have drunk the cool-aid and found it wan and bitter. - Chris Maunder
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Depends. If you make UML diagrams in your head, you are good. If you directly code in yor head, you are in trouble.
My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it.
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What's a UML diagram ?
I just think about what patterns suit the application, how to encapsulate things logically, that sort of thing.
I always love the Dilbert cartoon where he tells his boss that the time spent sleeping in meetings counts as work, but the time spent doing design in the shower doesn't. So true....
Christian
I have drunk the cool-aid and found it wan and bitter. - Chris Maunder
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What's a UML diagram ?
Ungodly Mass of Lines
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire!
Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0
0 rows returned
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Christian Graus wrote:
I just think about what patterns suit the application, how to encapsulate things logically, that sort of thing.
I use to be able to hold lots more in my head than what I can now.
But still I can think out quite large plans in my head, then spend the next 90 minutes typing as fast as possible.
Part of this must come down to practice, I guess.
Regardz
Colin J Davies
Attention: It's finally arrived, The worlds first DSP.
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I think for me, part of it is that I swim, and I used to walk a lot. So I just got in the habit of planning/designing in my head while my body was occupied
Christian
I have drunk the cool-aid and found it wan and bitter. - Chris Maunder
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That's exactly what I do, sometimes just want to blow my brains out cuz of too many things in it!
Zeke.
Waiting to kill Bill
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If I'm planning for a big project I usually use a simplified version of the OMT technique.
Otherwise, it's just scribbling diagrams, etc. on paper.
Often I come across a problem that has several possible solutions, each of which has pros and cons and I'm totally stumped to know which one to use. The way I resolve it is to write each solution down on paper, together with a list of pros and cons, then it soon becomes obvious which is the best solution.
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divination by picking passages from books at random
Good ol' cut-n-paste
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