[thelist] Fulltime to freelance

[Martin Burns]

On 26 Nov 2008, at 04:50, sbeam wrote:

> "Make it up as you go along" is one phrase that does come to mind.  
> Hey, I
> would LOVE to work that way, all the time, who wouldn't?

Which you can, provided you're able to think with the mind of the  
business; if you absolutely and intuitively understand their higher  
needs.

But I've known too many developers (but by no means all!) who see  
Agile as an opportunity to return to immaturity:
*) No requirements in advance means *I* can make it up as I go along
*) No plan in advance means no deadlines I have to care about
*) No design in advance means I don't have to produce any  
documentation. Pure code is the best documentation anyway.
etc
etc

Which might be all well and good for producing a system under  
uncertainty in a rapid timescale. But no damned good for anyone who  
has to come along and work with it later. Including later efforts to  
build on it, and anyone who has to support it.

Cheers
Martin

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