By Garrett Kelly

 “There is nothing in this world constant but inconstancy.” – Swift  “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

 Before a project is submitted as “final” to customer, a step called the “pilot plant” is necessary.  Pilot Plant is a scaling step.  Example would be Water Plant. 10,000gal/day capacity before going to 2,000,000gal/day.  Plan in Advance to build a throwaway, and then revise it. Not giving throwaway to customer to buy time.  Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow.

 First step is to accept the fact of change as a way of life.  Hardware and requirements are constantly changing. It is the responsibility of the software designer to recognize this and make necessary revisions.  Be Prepared

 Every product should have numbered versions  Every product must have its own schedule and freeze date  Freeze Date – Date changes go into the next version of the software and no longer into older version.  Most important is use of High Level Language and plenty of documentation to reduce errors caused by changes applied to versions during updates.

 Common failing of programming groups today is too little management control  Each man must be assigned to jobs that broaden him.  Might be smart idea to have two or three top programmers as “technical cavalry” that can go to rescue wherever they are needed most.

 Management structures also need to be changed as the system changes.  Managers and technical people must be interchangeable as their talents allow.  Everyone must be sent to “refresh” courses  A flexible organization is the answer to a successful project.

 After software is delivered to customer, it doesn’t end there. Software Maintenance is then begun  Just like Hardware Maintenance, technology is changing and thus revisions and updates are necessary to improve and keep a stable system  Total cost of maintaining a widely used program is typically 40 percent or more of the cost of developing it.

 Studies have shown that less and less effort is spent on fixing original design flaws; more and more is spent on fixing flaws introduced by earlier fixes.  Thus the system eventually becomes less and less well-ordered  Eventually a brand-new, from-the-ground-up redesign is necessary  “Things are always at their best in the beginning” – Pascal  Design something that is well ordered and properly working at beginning. It will make software design teams life much better in the long run

 Questions?