RE: The Mythical Man-Month

["Gordon McLean" <Gordon -dot- McLean -at- GrahamTechnology -dot- com>]

Peter Neilson wrote:

"Once you know too much about something it is hard to step away and see less
of it." 

Also referred to as the "Curse of Knowledge" in.. Umm.. A book I read
recently. Either "Make it Stick" or "The Wisdom of Crowds". 

Gordon

-----Original Message-----


Yes. Clutter. Once you know too much about something it is hard to step away
and see less of it. Creating OO abstractions is not sufficient, because they
are still within the technology framework. Any time that implementation is
put ahead of design, or design ahead of requirements, the wrong minds are in
control. For small projects there may be no bad consequences, because the
team is small and flexible. Any time you go beyond one or two guys in a
garage you have to be able to communicate the requirements and the design to
the rest of the team. Even one developer alone has to listen to the intended
customer.

Sometimes the clutter that drives the project is existing or owned
technology. "We shall build the new server on our established code, because
reuse is good and because we spent too much on developing it in the first
place." Sounds brilliant, unless you're making wine: "We shall add one liter
of this costly but sour and undrinkable plonk to each 29 liters of our
excellent wine, so that we do not waste the money and hard work that we
poured into making it."

--Peter Neilson



____________________________________________________________________________________________________
This email (and any attachments) is private and confidential, and is intended solely for the
addressee. If you have received this communication in error please remove it and inform us via
telephone or email. Although we take all possible steps to ensure mail and attachments
are free from malicious content, malware and viruses, we cannot accept any responsibility
whatsoever for any changes to content outwith our administrative bounds. The views represented
within this mail are solely the view of the author and do not reflect the views of the organisation
as a whole.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Graham Technology plc
Registered in Scotland company no. SC143434
Registered Office India of Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland PA4 9LH
                                                
http://www.grahamtechnology.com
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.