Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Has Your Team Ever Succumbed To Hype Driven Development? (daftcode.pl)
marekkirejczyk, the VP of Engineering at development shop Daftcode, shares a warning about hype-driven development:
Someone reads a blog post, it's trending on Twitter, and we just came back from a conference where there was a great talk about it. Soon after, the team starts using this new shiny technology (or software architecture design paradigm), but instead of going faster (as promised) and building a better product, they get into trouble. They slow down, get demotivated, have problems delivering the next working version to production.
Describing behind-schedule teams that "just need a few more days to sort it all out," he blames all the hype surrounding React.js, microservices, NoSQL, and that "Test-Driven Development Is Dead" blog post by Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson. ("The list goes on and on... The root of all evil seems to be social media.") Does all this sound familiar to any Slashdot readers? Has your team ever succumbed to hype-driven development?
Describing behind-schedule teams that "just need a few more days to sort it all out," he blames all the hype surrounding React.js, microservices, NoSQL, and that "Test-Driven Development Is Dead" blog post by Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson. ("The list goes on and on... The root of all evil seems to be social media.") Does all this sound familiar to any Slashdot readers? Has your team ever succumbed to hype-driven development?
I think infinite web pages was the worst idea that every site just had to copy to be part of the fad. I liked page number buttons. I can bookmark a page where I left off instead of scrolling a hundred times from the top again. It also doesn't use up all my computer's memory in Firefox or Chrome.
Main issue isn't "following the hype" -- it's not understanding why something worked for someone, or even why what you're currently doing is or isn't working before making sweeping changes.
PHBs making stupid and declarations based on trade magazines that sinks the project? Probably never understood what his subordinates were actually doing in the first place.
Developers changing languages mid-project? Forgot to add the time to master the language to the estimate, most likely.
The problem is that people want magic solutions, and they keep chasing the latest fad in the hopes of finding the secret alchemy that will make average developers turn into gold stars, produce perfect systems in a tenth the time, and meet all requirements without the bother of knowing them.
Anyone who's ever done any system of significance that actually worked will know that the "best" tools and methods are situational. Need a bash script to list a few files? The approach is different than it would be if you're hired to redo everything used by the IRS.
We can go all the way back to the "shelf full of binders" methodologies. In their day, they were supposed to be the magic cure-all. Today, it's Agile, or it's XYZZY or whatever is the latest and greatest. Still haven't found that secret sauce.
One size doesn't fit all. There is no magic. Successful development projects require skill, experience, good judgment, hard work, and competent leadership.
I agree. I cannot wait for that fad to die an ugly painful death. Make the pages longer, that's fine. But not infinity.
I hear it causes ADA lawsuits. I hope so, sue 'em hard!
Similar annoyance points for the "flat" look. You cannot even tell a button is a button, and entry box boundaries are washed out. Shade the fsckers, people! It's not 1989.
Table-ized A.I.