4 ms·
Agreed. There's a difference between "ugly hack" and "blatantly unprofessional", and the OP makes it sound like the two are equal. In actuality, they are not
by gacba 16y ago
Agreed. There's a difference between "ugly hack" and "blatantly unprofessional", and the OP makes it sound like the two are equal. In actuality, they are not and in fact, many times people mistake the former as a personal affront for the latter, claiming some moral high ground when there's none to claim.
The reality is that the "fine line" is the more reasonable and correct approach. It's case by case, every time. If there was a black-and-white rulebook, Joel Spolsky, Jeff Atwood, or Patrick Mackenzie would have blogged about it by now.
- generalk 16y agoIt's certainly "case by case, every time", but in every case the first thing should be customer education. If your customer wants a feature done in an unreasonable timeframe, don't say yes, don't say no, educate your client how long it takes to properly implement the feature. Not educating clients is the worst thing we can do as software professionals. Why do most people not ask for a house with a rushed foundation or frame? Because most people know that that's asking for serious issues later. Why do most clients ask for key software for their business rushed out the door and delivered ASAP, sans testing and without proper spec? Because most don't know that they're asking for serious issues later.