6 ms·
you could also just dust off the original specification. code up whatever it's supposed to do, then special case all of the junk that doesn't match.
by jfoutz 9y ago
you could also just dust off the original specification. code up whatever it's supposed to do, then special case all of the junk that doesn't match.
- chx 9y ago> you could also just dust off the original specification. You must be new here. What specification? Oh dear.
- SiempreViernes 9y agoYou did read the bit that said the current system is the accumulation of almost 60 years of changing tax legislation, right?
- jfoutz 9y agoYeah, ~30 year projects were the longest i've ever worked on. Sometimes it's easier to read the docs about what the old programmers were trying to do - those telephone sized documents explaining requirements. if you're lucky, they might have started using source control in the 90's and you can kinda match up specs to commits.
- mlindner 9y agoThere rarely is an original specification, and even if one exists, what was actually written has a high probably of not actually matching the specification exactly because of undocumented feature requests or additions.