

Why Software Projects are Terrible and How Not To Fix Them - sidcool
http://sealedabstract.com/rants/why-software-projects-are-terrible-and-how-not-to-fix-them/

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bostik
_Analysts feel the need to change the strategy every six months, because if we
kept one strategy and stuck with it, what would we need an analyst for?_

No matter how cynical that sentence sounds, I am seriously considering to
frame it and put on my wall. The endless search of direction, combined with
the belief in silver bullets is probably the single most destructive thing for
a company of any size.

I've been there. Many times. And my friends have complained about the same in
their respective companies.

Developers burn out from lack of continuity or visibility. They get exhausted
from constantly putting out the latest fires, and they start to loathe the job
(and sometimes themselves) because there is never time to do things well, but
there is always time to do them again.

You can substitute "they" for "we" \- because quite frankly I believe that
most of us have shared the pain.

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grey-area
It's a shame articles like this one fall off the new page so quickly. This is
an new perspective on a perennial problem that everyone in development thinks
they know the answers to.

~~~
chipsy
I don't think developers want to listen, either. After all, improving basic
practices doesn't directly translate to whiz-bang projects on the portfolio.
But learning a hot new framework and making a demo in it - they'll drop
everything to do that. Likewise, becoming "certified" in a buzzword
methodology.

~~~
MetaCosm
Generally, I see pressure for best practices coming from the bottom more than
the top. The developers know having no tests is crap and complain.

Improving basic practices DOES directly translate to successful projects, and
many developers at start-ups have options so they care about such things.

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616c
I have worked with lots of tech savvy people in many fields, from programmers
to general technicians. They work in all different kinds of industries. I am
still shocked that none of them really know or use source control, other than
the programmers (most, not all). It has become the most interesting type of
program to save my ass in many situations with computer data.

Morale of this story: universally good and/or smart ideas are universally
applied to the masses. Oh well.

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cateye
I think the main problem is that writing good software is not a commodity.
There is no process or best practices that can ensure a successful software
project.

Especially management is desperately seeking for a way to commoditize software
"production".

This would mean that with a cultivated process and a set of studiously
selected tools and the right developers, the project would be guaranteed a
success. The trouble is: every software project already tries to do that.

What a business really aims is to be an exception on the "Law of large
numbers".
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers))
There is simply no static solution to be an exception.

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kabouseng
The problem lies with both the project managers and the developers. How many
developers take the time for self improvement by reading clean code or code
complete. None, many of them think / assume that when they have finished
college, their days of learning are over.

That same developers become project managers after a couple of years, still
thinking they have learned everything they need to know when they were in
college years back.

