Re: writing technical specifications

Subject: Re: writing technical specifications
From: Ben Kovitz <apteryx -at- CHISP -dot- NET>
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 01:32:26 -0600

Alfred Watkins wrote:

>The "thing" about those standards is that they should be
>used just as guides. For your particular situations, you'll
>probably need to adapt whatever format you find works best
>at the start.
>
>I don't know any shops using the Kovitz standard although
>I'm sure it's wonderful. All the companies I've had dealings
>with use the IEEE standards for requirements, design
>descriptions and testing.

Yep. I don't believe in standards for this sort of documentation. My own
writing about this subject is certainly not an attempt at a standard, just
bunches of techniques and ideas to mix and match and modify as the
situation demands. Those "standards" usually consist of either a
prefabricated table of contents or a set of rules for force-fitting the
subject into known concepts. For some reason, programmers don't write
programs by filling in a standard table of contents for programs. I'm not
sure where this idea came about that specifying software could work that
way. (Well, I've got a few ideas...)

--
Ben Kovitz <apteryx -at- chisp -dot- net>
Author, _Practical Software Requirements: A Manual of Content & Style_
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1884777597
http://www.manning.com/Kovitz


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