On 4/11/07, Vitaliy wrote: > > Nigel Duckworth wrote: > > Interesting page on how they manage code for the Space Shuttle; > > > > http://www.fastcompany.com/online/06/writestuff.html > > A great example of how NOT to develop software. Expensive, slow, > inefficient. > > > I've recently attended the "Agile Software Development Fundamentals" > course > from ASPE Tech (www.aspetech.com). I highly recommend it, as well as the > book that the course is primarily based on -- "Agile Software Development" > by Alistair Cockburn. > Welcome to the church. Agile is just another methodology/religion. I work in SUPPORT and integration of some pretty complex telecom systems. I've seen crap code from every type of methodology out there. The ONLY thing I KNOW works 100% of the time, is tying whether or not the software WORKS to the engineer's WALLET. Here's how it usually works in most companies: Engineer hits ship date... bonus... bugs and major problems with that code... oops... we already gave the engineer a bonus. BAD BUSINESS. How it SHOULD work: Engineer told up front that bonus based on number of major/minor bugs in system after release. Bonus paid out over time. THEN the time estimates and ship dates are set. Manager and Engineer learn to figure out how to properly negotiate ship dates or they kill each other trying. Then the product is written/released and performance over time is tracked by the SUPPORT department, not the Engineering management. Bonus or lack thereof is based on customer and support staff pain levels caused by bad code. People only pay attention to detail if they're motivated to do so. Taking money away (or not giving it) is an incredible motivator. Nate -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist