[cap-talk] Selling capabilities programming

[Karp, Alan H]

James A. Donald wrote:
> 
> Rather a correct solution is one that implements what
> the user most needs, and is forwards compatible with
> implementing all these other clever ideas as and when
> they are needed, for those cases where they are needed.

Hear!  Hear!  I speak as one of the culprits responsible for feature
creep in e-speak.  

Unfortunately, it's an easy mistake to make if you're doing something
novel that doesn't have any customers yet.  Different potential
customers are giving you conflicting sets of requirements.  Different
architects on the project have conflicting visions of what you're
building.  The only use cases you have are text files, which are so easy
to create that they proliferate.  The only solution I see is to put a
battle scarred person in charge who has three jobs - focus, focus, and
focus.  You might just get something out that satisfies enough potential
users that you get the chance to add more of your clever ideas in future
releases.

________________________
Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Virus Safe Computing Initiative
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
1501 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 857-3967, fax (650) 857-7029
https://ecardfile.com/id/Alan_Karp
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Alan_Karp