Re: [tlug] [OT] Good IT Resume

[Darren Cook <darren@example.com>]

> My problem is ... with the spec-free approach advocated by Curt.
> *That* is what I am claiming will not scale below excellent
> engineers.

Agile/XP, as I understand, still uses specs, but the scope of each is
much smaller. You have a lot more iterations. And because each iteration
costs less you can afford to be short and imprecise; you don't have to
spend a week hammering out a highly detailed document to make sure that
there will be no misunderstandings a month or two later when you deliver
something. Instead you spend 10 minutes chatting, pointing at the
screen, then maybe write a short email to summarize the feature request.
Then spend the rest of the day working on it. Get approval at the end of
the day. Next day repeat for the next feature request.

It works well for some kinds of projects, and some people. I'm not sure
programmer excellence is a factor. Company size is more of a factor:
bigger companies tend to want more up-front paperwork.

Darren