Re: software engineering and the notion of authorship

[John Byerly <jbyerly@dalmatian.com>]

Jakob Engblom wrote:
>
> Yeah, but the real problem comes 10 years down the road, when the experts
> have quit or died or moved to other projects and plain do not remember the
> wonderfully complicated code they created back in '96...

That's why we document code.  Software engineering is the only engineering
discipline that considers documentation to be optional.  And even when documents
are produced, they are almost never updated after the code is written.

Speaking as someone who always seems to get stuck maintaining code, I find that
something as simple as comments go a long way toward making my job easier.

> Using a "just complicated enough to do the job", "ego-less" programming style,
> makes it much easier for the new maintenance developer working with the
> program in 2006... the savings in the long run far outweigh the lack of
> "personal style" in the code.

I disagree.  I started my software engineering career maintaining undocumented
FORTRAN code that was about as ego-less as you get and the thing was a nightmare.
More recently, I have maintained well commented, C++ code that was created using
a style that was unfamiliar.  This experience was much less painful.

> Only in software do we even think of accepting personal style like... it would
> be quite devastating in any other industry if an engineer insisted on using
> left-handed instead of right-handed bolts "because I feel creative today"..

That is why this is called _soft_ware.  To a certain extent, we have more
flexibility in creating our product than, say, a mechanical engineer.  In a
strict sense, however, our deliverables are object files, libraries, executables,
etc., which had better match the specifications.  This is the "right-handed bolt".

> things have to fit together, . . .

Quite true.  That is what an Interface Specification is for.


__________________________________________________________________________
John A. Byerly                            Which way to Flower Mound, TX?
The Dalmatian Group, Inc.
User Interface Specialists                Currently on site at:
jbyerly@dalmatian.com                       Motorola -- Chandler, AZ