Re: Bad coding standards

["Ken Garlington" <Ken.Garlington@computer.org>]

"Marin David Condic" <mcondic.nospam@acm.org> wrote in message
news:3A40ACF8.9A35BAB8@acm.org...
: Ken Garlington wrote:
:
: > My recommendation is to fire the auditors -- or at least, pull the
rotten
: > teeth. Worked for us.
:
: Well you don't always have a choice. Either the government is providing
them
: or maybe you hired a CMM audit firm, etc.

We have never had a CMM audit firm do an audit against our coding standards,
AFAIK, and I can't think of a KPA that would require that kind of detail.
You may want to consider another audit firm. If you have a customer that
requires it, that's a different matter -- although, if it's the U.S.
Government, and it's a new project, you might want to remind them of their
stated policy related to acquisition reform...

: The point is, you *said* you were
: going to do X and here is a spot where you *didn't* do X and why is that?
The
: easiest answer is to never *say* you will live up to some specific style
: guide.

Or to write a style guide saying "choose one of the following, using these
criteria as suggestions...", which is exactly what SPC did in some cases.

: That is why I would opt for a simpler style guide that is easier to live
up to
: and maybe use something more complex as just a "recommended reading" and
: "suggested practices" for developers.

Personally, I think that perverts the idea of the word "guide," but I
understand what you're saying.

: I don't know if anybody uses the SPC style guide as part of their standard
: work procedures. I think it is useful, but like I said - its just too much
: detail to want to use it as something you may get audited against.
:
: MDC
: --
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: Marin David Condic - Quadrus Corporation - http://www.quadruscorp.com/
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