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by tempguy9999 2470 days ago
My experience of that which has been called 'agile' is that it's an excuse by programmers not to do the boring stuff, so they can got straight into the coding.

Not to plan, or even think too much, definitely not to document (sometimes not write anything down at all), often not to test except in a token form and sometimes not even that.

Is that agile? That's how 'agile' has been done where I work anyway. Maybe I've been unlucky but 'agile' like that is a loathsome, unprofessional practice that can't produce good results.
1 comments
christopoulos 2470 days ago
Yes, I understand. While I’ve never only attributed that to Agile alone, but also this sort of brogrammer-code-is-the-real-product, it sometimes feels like a maturing industry sort of rolled back into its teenage years. Diagrams? Solution models (up front thinking)? Document for future reference? Nah, we don’t want to do that.

It’s sad. Just recently had an experience like this with developers I manage. I do loathe the brogrammer culture more than anything...

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Retric 2469 days ago
A significant chunk of software is a dead simple one off and does not need much in the way of design or maintenance. At the other end you have software that risks human lives and or billions in damages.

Picking the right process for where each project fits on that continuum is surprisingly difficult. Cowboy coding can be anything from a horrific idea to the most efficient setup, unfortunately people are rarely flexible enough to know the difference.

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christopoulos 2469 days ago
That’s why I always push the message that we choose the right amount of bureaucracy for the task at hand. Simple change / feature? No need to make a lot of documents for that? Fluffy idea that several people needs to work on? We need some mocks, diagrams and take requirements from client.

I think that’s a healthy way of doing it, but sadly many almost have to be pushed to do it, even with bigger things.

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tempguy9999 2469 days ago
> feels like a maturing industry sort of rolled back into its teenage years

Beautiful description! That is so on the nail.

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