On Wed, Aug 13, 2003 at 12:04:34PM -0300, Christian Reis wrote:
>
> Throw-away prototypes are in my experience usually inadequate, since it
> delays working code further and goes against customer/user expectation
> ("well, it was almost working when I saw it, what went wrong with it?").
> Working from a prototype into the full system is a better alternative in
> the majority of instances.
Prototyping is done to test concepts cheaply. It's there to be thrown
away. It's there for you to learn about risks. The program shouldn't
be working enough for you to show to any customer, not even if it's
the interface you're prototyping.
I'll quote 'Pragmatic Programmer' on this:
"It's easy to become misled by the apparent completeness of a
demonstrated prototype, and project sponsors or management may insist
on deploying the prototype (or its progeny) if you don't set the right
expectations. Remind them that you can build a great prototype of a
new car out of balsa wood and duct tape, but you wouldn't try to drive
it in rush-hour traffic!"
If you're doing the prototype to full system approach, you're using
what the 'Pragmatic Programmer' calls 'Tracer Bullets'.
Sorry for being off-topic,
//F
--
To segfault is human; to bluescreen moronic.
