Subj : Re: extreme programming (thoughts)
To   : comp.programming
From : akarl
Date : Tue Jul 26 2005 03:54 am

Dan Mills wrote:
> Algorithm design should be a white board activity anyway, if writing the
> code is pushing the limits of your ability, then you are generally NOT
> smart enough to be able to debug it! 
> 
> Now there ARE occasional insights that most good programmers have which can
> vastly simplify problems, or reduce memory footprint, or speed up or
> whatever but it has been my experience that these are the exception rather
> then the rule and tend to amount to vast reductions in the complexity of
> the result. Being required to explain these is a GOOD thing as it often
> triggers useful observations from the other partner.   
> This does require that both partners have a similar skill level!

Sometimes (I'd say most of the time) you have to think really hard, and 
this is best done alone, to come up with something really "simple". It's 
ad-hoc solutions that we want to avoid.

August

.