[lug] Software complexity

Chris Riddoch riddochc at gmail.com
Tue Oct 20 15:22:48 MDT 2009


This discussion on software quality, and our frustrations with the
causes of bad quality, reflects some of the things I've been thinking
about over the past year or two.

You all know the saying: Fast, Cheap or Good - pick only two.  Maybe
I've been at the wrong places, but I've never seen any place actually
give any priority to software being good, rather than fast or cheap.
I know I'm a perfectionist, and that my managers have beat their heads
against walls trying to get me to acknowledge that "good enough" is
indeed distinguishable from perfect.  (I seem to make a better QA
person than a developer, these days.)

My RSI isn't the only thing that's made me frustrated with working on
software for a living.  If anyone can offer me a story where the
quality of software was considered more important than either being
done fast or cheaply, please share it and give me a little hope.
Alternatively, some equivalent of alt.sysadmin.recovery for developers
would be appreciated.  (Actually, if anyone knows of such a forum, in
which developers are brainstorming career changes, I'd love to hear
about it... off-list, of course, to avoid spreading my cynicism too
far.)

-- 
Chris Riddoch



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