"frosty" weather, "moving targets" and sandwiches

[Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- FS -dot- COM -dot- AU>]

I said: "isn't the recent 'Documenting a moving target' thread
merely the flip-side of the old 'How can we get involved from the
start of the project' thread?"

And Nancy Hayes <nancyh -at- PMAFIRE -dot- INEL -dot- GOV> said:

>I don't think so.  The getting involved early thread involves how we as
>writers and editors can become involved in the research-development phase.
>The "moving target" thread is more about how to write reasonable, -tech-
>nically accurate- information on something that isn't even created yet.

Hmmm, maybe 'flip-side' was a bad choice of metaphor, certainly for the
post-CD generation. I meant to say:

You can be involved in a project early or late. They both have their
problems, but there are ways of working around them. I've done both.
Early is better.

If you come in when the target has stopped moving, it's probably very late
in the project. You have to document it as it stands, under extreme time
pressure.

If you come in early, things change. Often your early work seems to be
wasted. The advantages are that you have more time to learn what the
product is for, and you can influence how it does it.

Regards
---
Stuart Burnfield (slb -at- fs -dot- com -dot- au)        ...the metaphorical meat sandwiched
Functional Software                     between two threads from which dangles
PO Box 192                              the Sword of Damocles, which was used
Leederville, Western Australia, 6903    to slice the meat that is sandwiched...