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Exploring Solution Spaces, Keith Ray's blog on Software development and other topics.
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2007.Jul.06 Fri
What is Writing Software Like?
I think writing software in small groups is very much like the writing done for TV shows, which is also often done in small groups. We complain about the failures rates of software projects, and the lack of quality, but how many TV shows are good versus bad? Or great?
Isn't typings words into a script easy? TV requirements seeem pretty simple - use the actors you've got (or not, in some situations), don't write scripts that require spending a lot money on sets or special effects, don't offend the advertisers, attract and keep an audience. And "be dramatic" or "be funny", depending on the show.
Some shows are wonderful but get canceled quickly because they're in the wrong time-slot, or too expensive, or the TV Executives are idiots. Some software projects are too ambitious, or too expensive, or managed by Dilbert's boss. Other TV shows, like various soap operas whose quality I cannnot comment on, survive for decades with a large and loyal audience, not unlike various makers of operating-systems and office-oriented software.
We rarely write the exact same piece of software twice (bowling game exercises are the exception), and TV show writers aren't allowed to repeat themselves too obviously, either.
Most of the constraints of a TV show or a piece of software are self-imposed. In the case of software, the system is usually constrained by the person(s) willing to pay for features but also constrained by the skills of the people involved.