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On 9/3/08 7:31 AM, "stephen mulcahy" <<a href="smulcahy@aplpi.com">smulcahy@aplpi.com</a>> wrote:<BR>
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Perry E. Metzger wrote:<BR>
> How it is possible that people managed to read that much and hear<BR>
> exactly the inverse of my central thesis, I don't understand at<BR>
> all. Perhaps everyone just hears what they want to.<BR>
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Sheesh, I resisted for a long time but ....<BR>
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The scenario above pretty much sums up the situation I see with one of<BR>
the softer sides of software engineering - the requirements gathering,<BR>
which I'd see as fundamental to a successful (software, or indeed<BR>
general IT project). IMHO, the most important part of most projects is<BR>
figuring out what the heck the "stakeholder"[1] wants in the first<BR>
place. <BR>
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--- And that’s assuming the stakeholder really understands what they want.. Often it evolves as understanding improves (this is one of the arguments for RAD and XP).<BR>
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No matter how good your programming is, if your requirements are<BR>
wrong - you're heading in the wrong direction entirely (a bit like<BR>
building a really neat spacecraft and then launching it towards Pluto<BR>
instead of Mars[2]).<BR>
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----- All depends on the alignments of planets and stars.. I wouldn’t go so far as to say things are planned using astrology, but we (JPL) are probably one of the few businesses around that can use the motions of heavenly bodies to predict our business base and workforce requirements. Every 26 months as Earth comes into trine with Mars is an auspicious time for launch (you want to launch at a time that is roughly half the trip length before closest approach)<BR>
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This is <a href="SoftwareAnalysisAndDesign@beowulf.org">SoftwareAnalysisAndDesign@beowulf.org</a> right?<BR>
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--- you betcha.. When it’s not HardwareAnalysisAndDesign...<BR>
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Jim Lux<BR>
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-stephen<BR>
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[1] Am I the only one that can't help using that word and visualing a<BR>
Van Helsing type waving a wooden stake around? <BR>
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--- Cecil Adams of “The Straight Dope” says that wooden stakes only work on some kinds of beasts. It’s apparently a geographic thing.. Other places you need silver bullets, garlic, or something else.<BR>
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