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I did this after seeing this before on HN. There were a few processes that were manual that benefitted from the technique in the article. Learn from my folly:
by sovietmudkipz 5y ago
I did this after seeing this before on HN. There were a few processes that were manual that benefitted from the technique in the article.
Learn from my folly: I even called them “do nothing scripts,” referencing this article. However; I was judged by peers for not writing the full automation versions as they didn’t appreciate the idea of gradual automation (programmer hubris?). Saying “do nothing scripts” in meetings did catch the awkward attention of leadership.
As a description, “do nothing” communicates a lot. As a brand, “do nothing” can use some improvements.
My short prescription of turning “do nothings” into “do some things” into “do all the things” didn’t help. We had some new people join the team and they had fun turning the do nothing scripts into a document. * Sigh *
I still build these type of process description scripts still. I usually don’t advertise them to peers until they do some of the things nowadays.
- scrooched_moose 5y agoSomething like "Checklist Script", as that's what they really provide?
- andrewflnr 5y ago"Runnable checklist"
- randomswede 5y agoI ended up landing on "runnable plan".
- BariumBlue 5y ago"Process Automation" would be a good, encompassing term I think. Even if there's no code being run, having all the steps down and easy to follow is a way to make the process "automatic". The term is extendible to completely automated computer code, while including non-computer-code (human) automation.
- simonw 5y agoHow about "scripted playbook"?
- bredren 5y agoToo easily confused w Ansible
- qwertox 5y agoI agree with this. It's like a Todo App but a Checklist Script.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nmca 5y agocheckscript
- ByThyGrace 5y agoWhat do nothing scripts automate is on the human side, particularly the shift of focus. It's perhaps correct to call them along the lines of "thought automation" or "decision automation" scripts.
- a9h74j 5y agoNext time try MVS -- Minimum Viable Script. Actually, other applicable terms could be: a) programmed documentation; b) script as single-source of procedural truth
- cutemonster 5y ago"Print script" maybe? Short for "print commands to run manually" script
- colmanhumphrey 5y agoMaybe "Gradual Scripting" could work
- throwaway20371 5y agoYou could call it an "E-I Script" for Efficiency Interest Script. Over time your costs are gradually lowered as each step is automated - like accruing interest in a savings account.
- genewitch 5y agols -l Let's see, e i... e i... Oh! There it is!
- lumannnn 5y agoMaybe "<name>.playbook.sh" could give it a better look?
- bryan_w 5y agoIf you have a ticketing system that has an API, change the print() statements into file_ticket_and_wait()
- jjk166 5y agoI like the term "scaffold". It intuitively conveys that this is something quickly and easily started and which can stand on its own, but at the same time is fundamentally incomplete and a stepping stone towards something more permanent of greater value.
- abalaji 5y ago"scaffold scripts" that actually has a nice ring to it and is alliterative which makes it more memorable
- dflock 5y agoIt's a Run Book Script.
- adrianmonk 5y agoHow about "immediate placeholder scripts"? "Immediate" is meant to accentuate that they can be deployed and start delivering value right now, something that (usually) can't be said for the implementation of actual automation. And "placeholder" is meant to convey that you don't intend to stop there.
- mro_name 5y agoit's a running checklist, isn't it? Awesome.
- mamcx 5y agoStepwise to-dos
- dqv 5y ago>My short prescription of turning “do nothings” into “do some things” into “do all the things” didn’t help. We had some new people join the team and they had fun turning the do nothing scripts into a document. * Sigh * You know, it might be useful to do a little bit of extra work and turn it into its own exportable documentation so that people can't do that and have to rely on the script to get the documentation for it. donothing.py export
- sovietmudkipz 5y agoYes this is also important. A complaint the new folks had for the “do nothing” scripts is the ability to browse all of the process without the script. I’ve added this logic afterwards.
- bradwood 5y agoThis. Make it spit out a markdown file which means your docs are always up to date.
- thinkyfish 5y agoI think they should be called Runbook Scripts. They basically walk you through a procedure with a text interface. I bet they would work even better as a slide deck.
- barosl 5y agoI think "script as an instructor" might work, as I view this approach as that.
- hoosieree 5y ago"Dynamic Documentation" has the word "dynamic" in it (cf. dynamic programming) and still descriptive.
- nyanpasu64 5y agoPet peeve: historical reasons aside, "inductive programming" (as in mathematical induction) is a more accurate/descriptive name than "dynamic programming".
- gugagore 5y agoYou might as well change programming, too, since it is a very operations-research-y term: . (Programming in this context does not refer to computer programming, but comes from the use of program by the United States military to refer to proposed training and logistics schedules, which were the problems Dantzig studied at that time.)