[lmm]

> To make a concrete example, imagine writing an application where requirements changed unpredictably every day, and where the scope of those changes is unbounded.

I don't have to imagine it, I'm employed in the software industry.

Seriously, nothing you describe sounds any different from normal software development.

[burntoutfire]

The only difference is speed IMO. Sure, new requirements appear and they can wildly change the underlying assumptions of the systems - but usually, in such case we're given months or years to adapt/rewrite the system in a systematic manner. If, for every wild idea the researcher wants to explore, this amount of rigor was applied in its implementation, I'm guessing the research would slow down immensely. BTW most of research code written for chasing dead ends (quickly testing some small hypetheses), and will be discarded without sharing with anyone - so, investing into writing it properly seems especially wasteful.

[lmm]

Rapid fundamental changes and short-lived code to explore an idea that will most likely be thrown away are very much the everyday development experience in industry too, IME.

[wbl]

The program I wrote for my dissertation is as good as it needs to be for a program that had to run once!

[Dumblydorr]

In my world, it does sound different, I work with HIPAA data that takes months to get access to. So sharing your code is borderline unacceptable to some orgs, even if it itself doesn't have any privacy data, there's a mass paranoia that you'll accidentally leak patient data, which can lead to fines of 2 million USD.