On Wednesday 20 August 2003 7:56 pm, Dr Russel Winder wrote: > On Mon, 2003-08-18 at 17:00, Finkbine, Ronald B. wrote: > > > First, languages can be complex but programs should be simplified > > according to the Chomsky hierarchy of languages. The systems analyst > > (SA) should deconstruct programs that are of DFA (or FSM) complexity. > > DO NOT assign programs to programmers that are complex, you are just > > asking for trouble. You need to have programs that are provable or > > near-provable. A DFA can arguably be accepted as a proof depending > > upon results from continuing research in the field of diagrammatics > > (pictures accepted as proofs). > > It is almost certainly the case that there are software developments > that use 1960s views of development organizations but is there really > any need to further enshrine such outdated views of development by > researching such systems. System development organization theory has > gone beyond the systems analyst / programmer combative dichotomy implied > by your comments. >
I would hope that the purpose of research isn't simply to "enshrine" views of any kind, but to test them out! To be honest, I'm inclined to agree that A/Prof Finkbine's proposed methodolgy could bore many commercial programmers, and could lead to high rates of employee churn (bored programmers leaving). And I do often think there's a bit of conflict between many 'Systems Analyst vs Programmers' methodologies and the fact that most programmers are reasonably bright and like to have the authority to make some design decisions rather than just 'crank out the code'. But that's just my narrow view based on my experiences when I was a commercial programmer. If I was a manager, this opinion would influence the design methodogy I selected for my team -- managers tend to back their own judgment. As a researcher though, I have to recognise that this is just my own anecdotal evidence. A/Prof Finkbine, by building the system and testing it out, is in a much better position to come up with some good hard evidence that isn't just anecdotal. William Billingsley humble PhD student ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PPIG Discuss List ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Discuss admin: http://limitlessmail.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss Announce admin: http://limitlessmail.net/mailman/listinfo/announce PPIG Discuss archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/
