3 ms·
The problem comes in when you can anticipate a problem and also anticipate not being given the resources to solve the problem then when you do have those resour
by SkyBelow 7y ago
The problem comes in when you can anticipate a problem and also anticipate not being given the resources to solve the problem then when you do have those resources now.
For example, had a user who wanted a document produced in one specific format. They promised this was what they wanted and it wouldn't change. It changed 5 times as we were nearing release. So I over-engineered it to allow a template to produce the document that can easily be changed (compared to the release process for a code change). It ended up being used numerous times, despite the problem were given clearly states an unchanging template.
- omnimike 7y agoI would argue that as soon as they asked to change the format the first time then the template solution is no long over engineering as it has been demonstrated that the format can and will change. In general I wouldn’t call it over engineering if the problem you are trying to solve occurred in he past and you have reason to suspect it will occur again. The problem with over engineering is solving problems that have never (and may never) occur.
- jf22 7y agoIf the user did not have that problem wouldn't you have wasted engineering time?
- SkyBelow 7y agoIt was a calculate risk, same as many others, and by far not the most wasteful event of that year even had it not been needed.