Re: Detail first? Or Big Picture?

"MM" <kylix_is@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:o63tt3drnof8tlrj1mmf7vi5m5mhpi0nm5@xxxxxxxxxx
Yes, that's exactly what I am advocating! You can't do it with a new
building, a car, with anything, in fact, that is assembled from nuts,
bolts and bits of metal or plastic. But you CAN do it with software!

That's exactly the same example I use to support the idea the you have to
plan software. Building software is like building anything. The database is
like the foundations of a house, it's very difficult to change the
foundations without changing the entire house, while mistakes in the roof
are much easier to fix. To be honest I'm not really interested in getting
into a debate, i've read some silly things on newsgroups and advocating a
lack of planning is pretty much up there with the best of em. No matter how
silly an idea there's always someone there to support it to the end of the
earth and it's all fairly pointless.

The fact that software CAD tools have not yet advanced sufficiently
enough is due to too much diehard thinking. What we ought to be able
to do is say to the computer, create me a "thing", and the computer
asks, "how many records?" It asks a lot more besides, of course. But
later, when users do ask for a bell or a whistle, since the computer
itself knows exactly what it has created, redesigning the database
should take it, oh, about 4 milliseconds. It is, as I have mentioned
before now, really the *users* who know how the manual system works at
present and who are best placed to design their own system. The
computer department should be just a guiding handin the background.
The fact that you're still thinking of a database, presumably with
records and fields and the whole enchilada, means that you're not yet
thinking out of the box! We have to get beyond "a database", "an
internet connection", "a sort routine" just as a customer for a new
building doesn't think in terms of the grouting or the roof ties, both
essential components.

Actually, it's the users job to think in terms of what they need, it's our
job to think in terms of databases etc. We need to use the current
technology that is available and put it together.

We are NOT yet exploiting computer power to build more computers,
systems and solutions anything like enough. For now, I am that
computer, though, of course, being steam-driven and rather long in the
tooth by now, I operate at speeds a little bit slower than a Cray. I
build my scaffolding, stand back, go hmmm for a while, stand back a
bit more, then beetle away for a day or two, then go hmmmm again and
stand back some more.

While that's true it does not in any way help support the arguement that a
lack of planning is a good idea.

Works for me! This is why and how classic VB became the world-beating
product it is (still).

Actually I bet it doesn't work for you. I can gaurentee that there will be
faults in the design of your database that are difficult or impossible to
fix given current constraints (budget etc). If you write very small apps
then you can possibly get away with it because if it took a month to write
then it might only take 2 weeks to do a major overhall. But when you spend 5
years with 5 developers and there is the smallest of mistakes made at the
start then those mistakes can be close to impossible to fix.

Michael


.

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