I am a simple man. I have a simple dream. It can be stated simply. I just want to be able to out-produce 90% of my colleagues while working a 40 hour week. In other words, a career and a life. After 20 years in the business I believe it is still possible.
The essence of the current technological revolution can be summed up for me in two words: reusable code. Half the battle is not reinventing code written by other people. The other half is not reinventing code written by yourself.
Management always wants the project done as quickly as possible. Quality isn't an issue until the product is delivered. Maybe that is because setting due dates is easy (just pick some month or quarter end that's easy to remember and e-mail it to the world), and because jumping up and down and shouting and waving your arms as the slippages roll by helps relieve the stress caused by managerial helplessness.
However, I am inclined to believe that the guy in the trench is more likely to survive in the long run if he focuses on 1) delivering quality product and 2) wasting as few moves as possible in the process. All else is Vanity.
That is why I am interested in any general heuristics that significantly increase the quality of the system or the process by which it is produced.
What you see here is a first attempt to collect some of my ideas in one place.
If there is anyone out there who shares similar aspirations and can offer feedback I would be happy to hear it and assimilate it in my musings.
Sorry about the lack of graphics. I am not clever enough to find pictures that integrate with this sort of subject matter. However, if you need graphics click here for what I would do for a hobby if work wasn't my hobby.
Thanks for reading...
Mike Segor
msegor@compuserve.com