To spec or not to spec; that is the question.
A very interesting debate has opened up over whether detailed specifications should be drawn up first before writing software. This has been fueled by a comment made by Linus Torvalds (pictured) - the man who first wrote and developed Linux (the only real competition to Microsoft's operating systems like Windows).
Linus Torvald wrote: "a 'spec' is close to useless. I have _never_ seen a spec that was both big enough to be useful _and_ accurate. And I have seen _lots_ of total crap work that was based on specs. It's _the_ single worst way to write software, because it by definition means that the software was written to match theory, not reality." I feel somewhat justified in the comments I have been making for years in relation to building websites - i.e. "why spend months and thousands of dollars building a specification for a website that will be out of date the day it is programmed?". With Saxer Design, everything happens in reverse to the current 'standard approch'. That is, the website is built, then the client decides what content they want on their site (i.e. they build a spec) and add that content as they create it. This approach requires a highly functional and very, very flexible platform with which to build the website on. Luckily we have such a platform. The result is a very fluid and client/market responsive marketing and sales vehicle that meets both the website owner's and their client's needs. Another side effect is that the overall project can be completed in days not months and costs very little. So to cap it all off, I believe that when developing a new piece of software or customising an exisitng platform, having a good idea of what is required is important - but not a formal software developer's spec. For a client to pay thousands of extra dollars to fully specify a website, in today's world, with the advent of our products, is nuts!
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