Re: SEUL: "Just write it!" and plans

[Dan Stromberg <strombrg@hydra.acs.uci.edu>]

Erik Walthinsen (Omega) wrote:
> What I disagree strongly with is your suggestion to just go and hack
> something together.  While hacking things together is what builds good
> ideas in the first place, it is *NOT* what builds a quality product that
> is self-consistent.  The *only* way to do that is to plan carefully for
> complete inter-app integration.

Be careful.  2167a (detailed spec'ing) works in the military (sort of),
but free software projects tend to be a little different.  You don't
have "coders", you have "craftspeople" wanting to do this work.  If you
spec away all the creativity, you'll have a harder time finding (good)
people to do the real work.

(Yes, design is the fun part, but grinding out code is the real work - I
say this as someone who loves design, and kind of enjoys implementation)

I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that a (very) coarse, top-level
design should be done before starting to code, but I think it would be
more than a little crazy to try to plan every last bit before starting
on implementation.

Don't let your craftspeople lose interest.  Harness it while you have
it.