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Subject:Re: Dev. Cycle and the Manual From:Wayne Douglass <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 4 May 1999 11:27:44 -0700
At 09:04 AM 5/4/99 -0700, Elna Tymes wrote:
>I've seen groups attempt to do so, but invariably the docs need to hold in
>place after about the second draft, awaiting the inevitable changes that
happen
>toward the end of the development cycle. The docs need to describe what the
>software/hardware actually does, and a final revision cycle usually helps
>assure that they do.
As usual, Elna makes sense. Building software is like building
Frankenstein's monster. You've got the brain of a murderer controlling the
hands of a concert pianist and there are those funny plugs in his forehead.
The assistant is releasing the kite into the storm while the professor
twiddles the controls. Somehow the creature comes alive and escapes into
the countryside where it behaves unpredictably. Unless you want a
torchlight parade of users storming Tech Support, plan for that final
revision cycle.
--Wayne
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Wayne Douglass phone: 408-542-2139
Verity, Inc. FAX: 408-542-2040
894 Ross Road mailto:wayned -at- verity -dot- com
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 http://www.verity.com
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