Re: [flexcoders] Flex prototype - production approach

[Tariq Ahmed]

I'll second the A approach. I'm a firm believer in the iterative development approach (sometimes called the prototyping model, lightweight methodology, etc...), as opposed to the waterfall approach (define, analyze, scope, design, build, test, implement, support). No matter how much planning and requirements gathering you do up front, if you put massive up front effort into your planning it's going to change once the end user gets their hand on something they can see. It's way better to incrementally in a cylical manner build, user eval, build, user eval, etc...So the final product will be exactly what the user wants. JesterXL wrote: Jesse Warden does A, Darron Schall does B (I would think).   I like to build stuff quickly, ironing out the weird, diffucult things, and just continually kneed the mofo like dough, improving, and releaseing working builds to prove progress.  Sometimes, you realize a re-write is best, and you can re-use some functions and assets, but not much (which is why I call it a re-write).  Since Flash & Flex make that sooo fast, you do that about 3 times.   I've done B, but that sucks.  I hate UML, as long as you have an awesome Information Architect, who cares; take the wireframes, and go; then iterate when you can show a build, and double-check your assumptions about both the wireframes & the implementation.   To me, B works in better in a team, and I've had success working with others, but the pressure at the forefront to "plan it perfectly" seems like I'm being setup to fail, and when the transition from prototype to production comes; it feels cheap because the code itself wasn't really a prototype; it was a planned production piece from the get go.   Obviously, I'm leaving out all of the important factors that affect the above such as investment, leeway, deadlines, # team members, accountability, aptitude, experience, etc. but bottom line, I dig A.  The only really big thing about A is deadline; you're emotional attachment to building re-usable code should be inversely proportional to the amount of time you have left.  So, if you have a week, don't care about it.  If you have a month, definately.  Obviously, I'm implying scope here, but you get the gist.     ----- Original Message ----- From: superabe superabe To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 5:19 AM Subject: [flexcoders] Flex prototype - production approach Just curious about what folks here on the list think / have experienced about the prototype based approach to RIA developemnt with Flex.   Am evaluting a potential project that needs to be prototyped first and eventually built using Flex, and trying to decide what to use for prototyping and how much of the prototype can be re-used in the final app.   The two options I see, are :   A. do a quick prototype in Flex or Flash for the purposes of feature gathering / usbility. The start the production app from scratch in Flex.   B. Do a more planned out / better architected prototype in Flex , that can be re-used substantially towards the production app.   Am interested to know what pros' and cons people have faced with both approaches. TIA   - superabe   -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "flexcoders" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.