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Subject:Re: The End Of Technical Writing From:Tony Markos <ajmarkos -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sat, 30 Oct 2004 10:54:20 -0700 (PDT)
eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com wrote:
Is it just because it's Friday, or is your religious
fervour and devotion to your perceived version of the
TRUTH(TM) for real?
(Note: The TRUTH here referring my (Tony Markos's)
conviction that only by following the flow of data can
we understand the underlying logic of a larger scale
software system. - Tony Markos)
Tony Markos responds:
Some of it was a "Friday thing"; also,we were having a
little party over here. I love a good party!
But I clearly admit to being very gun-ho on Data Flow
Diagrams. Reason: Once one has experienced the sense
of accomplishment that DFDs provide in doing a larger
scale tasks analysis, going back to the "old way" of
doing an analysis is, well, depressing.
*Note: Eric, you asked before what I meant by
the "old way". By "old way" I mean any way other
than with DFDs, including the use of:
* No formal analysis technique at all
* Use Cases
* Hierarchal task analysis techniques
* Logical Flow Charts
* Any other modeling technique
The below (relevant) material is mine from a previous
post:
I remember when I went through the Yourdon course on
DFDs. Our instructor was like a firery evangelical
Pastor. He would stand in front of the class and wave
a copy of Ed Yourdon's "Gospel" above his head, as he
passionately espoused the principles of DFDs.
This instructor's communication style was by design.
The Yourdon people know that to be a successful DFDer,
one has to be very "evengelical" in their approach.
I used to converse with a lady who was a former
Yourdon & Assoc. DFD instructor. She told me that
Yourdon instructors referred to those who followed
"the Gospel according to Yourdon" as people who have
the fervor.
To face the dangers of DFDing that I referred to in a
previous posting, one has to be very fervent about
DFDing - or he/she will shy away from the technique.
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