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The Worst Enemies Of Progress (1/5)
Most of us grew up with the notion that the world is constantly moving forward. Developing. Progressing. Out of the dark ages into the age of englightenment. Progress is good. New developments are good. Good for business, good for our living standard. Right?
Software, too, is progressing. Every few months there are new development models, new programming languages, new frameworks, new components. Software is built out of those. Other software is built out of that software. And then rebuilt, using newer components, because newer is better. And then rebuilt again, using still newer components. And then…
Oh wait. Are we still talking about progress?
Perfectionism
I don’t know about other software developers, but I have, from time to time, met the point, where I have built a large and complex piece of software with the resources and tools I had available at the point, and it took me so long to develop that by the time I was done, it was technically obsolete because now there were newer tools and resources I could have used.
The software was done, and in theory I could sell it, and reap the benefits. Or, because I am a perfectionist, I could re-build it using newer technologies — nicer, better, shinier. But by the time I would be done rebuilding it, there would be even newer…
