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On Sat, 26 May 2012 23:22:22 -0700 |
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Grant <emailgrant@×××××.com> wrote: |
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|
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> > Extensive testing, on the other hand, is something a team should do. |
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> > Sure, the lone programmer can write you some unit tests and conduct |
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> > a system test, but testing itself is a profession of its own and |
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> > should be done by a second person with the relevant training. |
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> > |
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> > But in the end, these issues a minor. It really boils down to whom |
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> > you trust more. Ask for references, look at their previous work, |
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> > talk to them, etc. |
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> |
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> Can you tell me what sort of positive and negative things to watch |
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> out for? |
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|
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Here's a quick test that I've never seen fail: |
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|
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When you get the quote stage and are discussing numbers, ask for their |
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estimate of how long it will take to produce a beta. Let's assume they |
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say 6 weeks. You say you need it in 4. Can they do it? |
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|
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If they say yes in a way shape or form, do not use them. Go onto the |
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next one. |
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|
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The reason is that development takes as long as it takes and the old |
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adage of "the production of a baby takes 9 months no matter how many |
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women are assigned to the task". A mature dev or team know this, stand |
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by their estimates and politely won't be swayed. |
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|
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Everything else is common sense, and the best recommendation is word of |
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mouth from someone you already trust |
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|
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> |
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> > All things being equal, paying 1*x instead of 2*x gives you the |
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> > chance to pay another 1*x to a second developer if things don't |
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> > work out with the first one. ;-) |
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> |
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> Once I need more than one developer (which could come sooner rather |
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> than later due to the availability of these guys) am I likely to |
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> struggle managing them? I've read a bit about "Agile" software |
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> development and I plan to read a lot more. Is that the way to go? |
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|
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Agile is nothing more than the way a team organizes itself so they can |
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keep on top of things. If it were software, it would be a neat add-on |
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like bash-completion (without it you still have all of bash). When |
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Agile works out, it works really really well but it takes discipline |
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from the programmers. |
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|
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All Agile methods have some way of bringing constant feedback to the |
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devs so they can assess how they are going and easily deal with the |
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inevitable mistakes. It also lets them experiment a bit with different |
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technologies and change implementations without upsetting the whole |
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apple cart. |
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|
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Agile is subject to much buzz-wording just like everything else in our |
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field :-( A mature dev team who know what they are doing can use it |
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correctly and well.So be sure to look for real evidence that it's being |
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used, not tossed about as a cute buzz-word |
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|
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We use Scrum at work and for us it works well - we get to concentrate on |
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the task at hand and can spot bugs and show-stoppers quite quickly. But |
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it's very important to observe that it's not Scrum that magically makes |
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all things good all by itself - it works because we know what we are |
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doing and Scrum is just giving us the right information at the right |
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time so we can keep on track. There are potentially 100s of ways to do |
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that, but without out basic skills in place Scrum couldn't help at all. |
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> |
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> Would hiring a company make management a non-issue from my |
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> perspective? |
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|
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Not really, you may just end up have to manage the managers that manage |
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the devs :-) |
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|
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A good software house is like a good builder - some you can leave to |
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get on with it even though the truck is shabby (like the chaps that |
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redid my bathroom). Some have flashy shiny trucks but are still short |
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on clue (like the chaps who first quoted my bathroom and didn't get the |
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job) |
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|
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-- |
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Alan McKinnnon |
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alan.mckinnon@×××××.com |