Re: Per the discussions of Software Engineering

"Robert" <Robert@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:6jQWh.4159$j63.999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That sounds like one of the practices of the current (or just past
current) fad
of "Extreme Programming".

Indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_Programming

"Extreme Programming was created by Kent Beck, Ward Cunningham, and Ron
Jeffries during their work on the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System
(C3) payroll project. ... Chrysler cancelled the essentially unsuccessful C3
project in February 2000, but the methodology had caught on in the software
engineering field."

Nice!

Then again, if I somehow ended up working on a payroll project, I'd probably
want some guy sitting right next to me just to keep me awake. :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_Programming

"A larger recent study (Arisholm et al. 2007) had 48% increase in
correctness for complex systems, but no signficant difference in time,
whilst simple systems had 20% decrease in time, but no significant
difference in correctness. Overall there was no general reduction in time or
increase in correctness, but an overall 84% increase in effort."

That sounds reasonable enough, and for certain mission-critical systems
perhaps it makes sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

That sounds much more level-headed to me. I can't tell you the number of
times I've seen programmers sit around and maintain/tweak/"improve" code
that's clearly *rotten at the core* rather than just starting it out and
start anew.

---

A real problem, IMO, is that far too few engineers, programmers, etc. are
particularly *passionate* about what they do. They'll do what they're asked
to the best of their abilities, but if those managing them don't make it
clearly that buggy design isn't acceptable, that more sophisticated
techniques could be used to produce better results in less time, etc.,
relatively few people will gravitate towards such goals on their own. Hence
I tend to blame buggy and/or "uninspired" software and hardware more on
management than individual programmers... at least in companies big enough
that, e.g., staff funding is not the problem.

---Joel


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: automated coding standard validation?
    ... (collective code ownership and pair programming) ... I assume that you are talking about eXtreme Programming. ... int *port1l; ...
    (comp.lang.c)
  • Who Is Just Not Getting It?
    ... I was skimming the contents of Yahoošs Extreme Programming ... I came across a posting from Kay Pentecost ... As one example, pick up a copy of Beck's first book, look ...
    (comp.object)
  • Re: print LIST vs print join "", LIST
    ... sorry:) Extreme Programming didn't come to mind. ... when I say "die late" i don't mean to return an incomplete ... the class diagram I came up with did impress mostly everyone. ...
    (comp.lang.perl.misc)
  • Re: dynamic type checking - a pauline conversion?
    ... and rabid enforcer of strong typing. ... >> Four years ago I got involved with Extreme Programming. ... Here is problem with static types: ...
    (comp.object)
  • Re: An idle rant
    ... > Ive heard many people rave about extreme programming where 1 person ... > never sits and codes alone, and when 2 people are together does any ... Pair programming is an individual ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)