Software Engineering - Phasist Thinking [Was: Software architecture]

Author

Phasist Thinking [Was: Software architecture]

Phlip

2004-10-29, 3:57 pm

smilemac wrote:

> Phlip wrote:

>
> I agree with you about above two points if the "planing" includes analysis
> and design phases.

"Phases"?

Here's a

post from elsewhere on the 'net:

----

Last w

, I met David Putman, an XP Coach from Exoftware. We were both
attending Mary and Tom Poppendieck's Lean course in Scotland.

At the end of day 1 we went out for dinner at Wagamama's in Glasgow - a
noodly sort of place.

I was sitting opposite David admiring his x-p-something-or-other t-shirt
when he pointed to one of Mary's as-yet-unused chopsticks and said, 'Imagine
this chopstick is a project. This end represents the start of the project
and this end the finish'.

start --------------------------- finish

I examined the chopstick and said okay.

'Now', he said, 'where abouts on this project timeline would you least like
to find defects?'

I looked closely at the chopstick. Is this a trick question? Obviously the
worse place to find defects is near the finish of the chopstick - err
project - when the cost of reworking the code is highest and you've got the
least amount of wiggle room to recover. I pointed to the finish end of the
chopstick and said 'Here!'.

start --------------------------- finish
^
here!

He nodded and I quietly sighed in relief. There was no trick.

'So', he continued, 'How do you find defects?'

'By testing', I said.

'And, when you plan your waterfall projects, when do you plan to do the
testing?'

start --------------------------- finish
start -analysis-design-code-test- finish

'At the end', I said, pointing to the spot on the table where the chopstick
had been, since Mary had reclaimed when her first dish arrived.

'So', he smiled, 'You PLAN' - he emphasised the word plan - 'to find defects
at the worst point of the project, when you are at your most vulnerable and
the defects are the most expensive to fix?'.

'Um, yes, I suppose so', I said, before pointing out that I've recently
"reframed" myself as an unemployed writer and "planning" simply doesn't fit
with my Bohemian lifestyle anymore.

--
Clarke Ching

smilemac

2004-10-29, 8:56 pm

"Phlip" <phlip_cpp@yahoo.com> ×«Œ‘ì¶à]¼þÐÂÂ„:Snsgd.24611$Qv5.8603@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
> smilemac wrote:
>
>
>
> "Phases"?
>
> Here's a

post from elsewhere on the 'net:
>
> ----
>
> Last w

, I met David Putman, an XP Coach from Exoftware. We were both
> attending Mary and Tom Poppendieck's Lean course in Scotland.
>
> At the end of day 1 we went out for dinner at Wagamama's in Glasgow - a
> noodly sort of place.
>
> I was sitting opposite David admiring his x-p-something-or-other t-shirt
> when he pointed to one of Mary's as-yet-unused chopsticks and said,
> 'Imagine
> this chopstick is a project. This end represents the start of the project
> and this end the finish'.
>
> start --------------------------- finish
>
> I examined the chopstick and said okay.
>
> 'Now', he said, 'where abouts on this project timeline would you least
> like
> to find defects?'
>
> I looked closely at the chopstick. Is this a trick question? Obviously
> the
> worse place to find defects is near the finish of the chopstick - err
> project - when the cost of reworking the code is highest and you've got
> the
> least amount of wiggle room to recover. I pointed to the finish end of
> the
> chopstick and said 'Here!'.
>
> start --------------------------- finish
> ^
> here!
>
> He nodded and I quietly sighed in relief. There was no trick.
>
> 'So', he continued, 'How do you find defects?'
>
> 'By testing', I said.
>
> 'And, when you plan your waterfall projects, when do you plan to do the
> testing?'
>
> start --------------------------- finish
> start -analysis-design-code-test- finish
>
> 'At the end', I said, pointing to the spot on the table where the
> chopstick
> had been, since Mary had reclaimed when her first dish arrived.
>
> 'So', he smiled, 'You PLAN' - he emphasised the word plan - 'to find
> defects
> at the worst point of the project, when you are at your most vulnerable
> and
> the defects are the most expensive to fix?'.
>
> 'Um, yes, I suppose so', I said, before pointing out that I've recently
> "reframed" myself as an unemployed writer and "planning" simply doesn't
> fit
> with my Bohemian lifestyle anymore.
>
> --
> Clarke Ching
>
>

Great story. Thanks for the sharing.

But do you misundertand I be doing warterfall projects? No.No.No. I advocate
iteration and incremental phylosophy. But just need to be planned and
controlled and work on schedule and risk list.

Yours,
smilemac

Phlip

2004-10-29, 8:56 pm

smilemac wrote:

> But do you misundertand I be doing warterfall projects? No.No.No. I
advocate
> iteration and incremental phylosophy. But just need to be planned and
> controlled and work on schedule and risk list.

Thanks for appeasing my fear of up-front risk acceptance.

--
Phlip
http://industrialxp.org/community/b...tUserInterfaces

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