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Is it fair to draw parallels to software development here? Is it better to toil in obscurity until your masterpiece is complete or is it better to involve other

Is it fair to draw parallels to software development here? Is it better to toil in obscurity until your masterpiece is complete or is it better to involve others early? We can see examples of both. Curious what HN thinks.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
dasmoth 10y ago
I'm not sure I'd draw the line quite that starkly -- it's possible to build software or animate a film solo, but still get feedback from users or trial watchers. I certainly believe that having a single mind -- or at most two or three people who understand one another super-well -- setting direction often leads to better results than strict "team" efforts.
akkartik 10y ago
I'm biased[1], but the lesson I draw from this for software isn't about collaborating or not, it's about avoiding division of labor. When working with someone on a project don't "design an interface" and then work alone on either side of it. Work together all over it. [1] http://akkartik.name/about http://akkartik.name/about
digikata 10y ago
With respect to software and art - it makes me think of the author(s) of Dwarf Fortress where what is accomplished probably would have been severely diluted without the singularity of vision of a single primary programmer. Regarding more production oriented software environments - it reminds me of chapters in the Mythical Man Month discussing the considerations to team size/composition and it's tension with consistency of design and communications cost.
- ralfd 10y ago
  The Dwarf Fortress authors are lucky though, that people care enough for their niche to donate money to them. They are not under pressure to produce something finished or follow some traditional release cycle.
rishabhparikh 10y ago
In my personal experience, my projects tend to atrophy the longer I keep them hidden. I think it's incredibly valuable to gain outside perspective on my personal software projects from people smarter than myself (and people with different world views). Alternatively, projects like Minecraft seem to do really well with a single creator. I think it depends on the clarity the creator has about what they want to create.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

dasmoth 10y ago

I'm not sure I'd draw the line quite that starkly -- it's possible to build software or animate a film solo, but still get feedback from users or trial watchers. I certainly believe that having a single mind -- or at most two or three people who understand one another super-well -- setting direction often leads to better results than strict "team" efforts.

akkartik 10y ago

I'm biased[1], but the lesson I draw from this for software isn't about collaborating or not, it's about avoiding division of labor. When working with someone on a project don't "design an interface" and then work alone on either side of it. Work together all over it. [1] http://akkartik.name/about http://akkartik.name/about

digikata 10y ago

With respect to software and art - it makes me think of the author(s) of Dwarf Fortress where what is accomplished probably would have been severely diluted without the singularity of vision of a single primary programmer. Regarding more production oriented software environments - it reminds me of chapters in the Mythical Man Month discussing the considerations to team size/composition and it's tension with consistency of design and communications cost.

ralfd 10y ago
The Dwarf Fortress authors are lucky though, that people care enough for their niche to donate money to them. They are not under pressure to produce something finished or follow some traditional release cycle.

rishabhparikh 10y ago

In my personal experience, my projects tend to atrophy the longer I keep them hidden. I think it's incredibly valuable to gain outside perspective on my personal software projects from people smarter than myself (and people with different world views). Alternatively, projects like Minecraft seem to do really well with a single creator. I think it depends on the clarity the creator has about what they want to create.