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> Don't get me wrong. A defined process doesn't have to be a 200 page
> manual with flowcharts, gantt charts, DFDs, and various UML stuff.
> It could be a one page document. In fact, it could be totaly in
your
> head. However, what's important is that you know what you are
> doing, what you will be doing next, at what percentage of the
> project each element should happen, and that you follow the same
> process each time.
HOWEVER...the larger the effort, the more formal you need to make
your process, possibly including UML, DFDs, FDs, SDs, TDs,
interdepartmental Gantts, etc.
- The larger the effort, the more other people have at stake and
they want to know that you know what you are going to do before you
do it, if only because they want to know where they stand in it. "I'm
gonna write like hell" doesn't do much for them.
- The larger the effort, the more interaction you have with other
groups. In some of my past efforts, some of what I wrote was then
taken by development and incorporated into the application. When they
can get this from you and by when you need to have it ready requires
planning.
- The larger the effort, the larger the pieces, and when a piece goes
to hell, the larger the impact. A small impact can usualy be fixed by
working late a couple of nights. A large impact can require $$$ and
the enlistment of outside resources and they aren't sitting around
waiting for your call.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
"I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
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