Redefining software development

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good software still requires good coders

Our shop has always used all the fancy collaboration tools to build stuff the last 5 years.It has helped in many ways but failed on many more. 90% or them (VSS, Visual Studio Enterprise, Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX Actionscript, Borland, etc.) still create HORRIBLE bloated code and attempt to rewrite code into non-standardized markup and languages. We have all but abandoned those aspects of the products and hand-code everything and we are getting much cleaner, bugfree work. Even Visual Studio creates the WORST markup Ive ever seen in the 6 years Ive worked with editors. So, the argument for all this "drag-and-drop", offshoring, "busienssman/project manager-as-developer" is BS. So I agree with everyone elses comments on here.

The fact of the matter is some C programmer somwhere had to build these tools that allow greater modelling, etc. And in that process even they created mistakes, and made bad decisions that some more highly trained coder has to customize to fit their business process design later. In addition, the higher the level of modelling, the more LIMITED and LESS CUSTOMIZable a software tool becomes. What happens when a business manager starts modelling something and says, "hey, but I need this to also do this". Then they either contrive some complex configuration using that tool, or call their developer/coder to build an add-on.

Thats why techies in this world will always be coders and NEVER business process people. And why the concept of the "computer programmer" moved offshore to India, will never create higher quality work.

Besides, customizationand innovation in software is indirectly proportional to business processes and management controls. The more you cust costs, offshore, and use tools to solve complex technology issues, the less you get of those things, period. There is a trade off.

You also CANNOT automate or take out the human spirit and emotional connection between the builder and the toolset or code. You also cannot oversimply software engineering and software innovation and creativity. The more tools we have used, sure the more efficient we became, but I have yet to find a tool that could help us innovate more, or better, or read-between-the-lines when our clients call us up and say, "can you fix this". That takes a creative mind and coder with intimate knowledge of the code to solve quickly. Try "modelling your way out" of human error and flexibility demands.

(One quick side note on the ASCII comments as no longer needed. What about XML...its text-based and now rewriting concepts on how people use data. So the "anti-ASCII" argument does not hold up here.)

Posted by: wildranger   Posted on: 06/29/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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