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Dragon vs. Hydra - Competing Development Styles

Posted by Soulskill on from the head-to-heads dept.

peterofoz writes "You may recall that we discussed a company which was recruiting talent with a puzzle last December. This turned out to be n-Brain releasing a new product that allows multiple editors to modify the same code in real time to support the collaborative programming paradigm. Now they're back with another challenge: 'Are two heads really better than one? N-BRAIN, Inc. intends to definitively answer this question by sponsoring the Hydra Versus Dragon Coding Competition, a Reality TV-style battle between the world's finest software developers.' Mark June 23rd on your calendars." While n-Brain clearly intends this to promote their software, it will be interesting to see if the competition results support their theory of collaborative development.

4 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Hydra by Two Noses? by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Collaboration depends on the collaborators. Some people collaborate better than others. Yet some shouldn't share the room with other humans. The answer is, it depends.

    --
    Invenio via vel creo
    1. Re:Hydra by Two Noses? by quarrel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I really agree. One of the first things to learn in becoming a good manager is that different people are, well, different.

      Forcing everyone in to the same paradigm is hard..

      --Q

  2. That's good for RealityTV, but.. by Cyberax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's good for RealityTV but in real world I wouldn't want to work on a software where I have to struggle with other people editing the same file code at the same time.

    In 99% of situations you should just modularize your code to minimize conflicts, not try to make them 'nicer'.

  3. Nothing to See Here, Please Move On by crunchy_one · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Since the competition is designed by, sponsored by, and conducted by folks with a point to prove, the outcome is not in doubt. The hydra is gonna kick the dragon's ass.

    I've been writing code professionally since 1976, and have had to endure more than my share of management-instigated nonsense, including various stabs at a "collaborative development" work environment as an attempt to end-run "Mythical Man Month." It's like trying to build a perpetual motion machine while making all of your employees suffer.