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The main piece of advice of the article is finish it, it being whatever piece of software you're working on. I think "finishing" is generally bad advice, becau
by ryanwaggoner 18y ago
The main piece of advice of the article is finish it, it being whatever piece of software you're working on.
I think "finishing" is generally bad advice, because the problem for many developers is that "finishing" implies perfection and makes completion seem insurmountable. The author discusses various possibilities for what "finishing" may mean to you, but I would simply tweak the wording a bit to be release it. Get it out to the people who you think will use it and see if (and how) they do. Then release again.
- zacharydanger 18y agoAgreed, this goes hand in hand with the whole "artists ship" thing pg wrote about. If you're too caught up in the perfection of something start slicing of limbs of it until it's releasable and go from there.
- cottsak 18y agoi like your "limbs" idea. of course programmers get frightened by 'finishing' in ryanwaggoner's context. we know what it's like to want perfect. i'm only just learning how to slice and chop my projects into pieces... find what i hav to do as bare minimum to make the software 'useful' and put the big black period there. work in very small iterations - 2 week-mini projects. set good but minimum goals. have a "later list" so you can stop coding that next great idea u think of. ..and after you 'finish' each mini project. hav a beer. i loved this article.
- jhancock 18y agoI agree. But I didn't get the same meaning of "finish" form the article that it seem you have. I think his meaning is very close if not the same as "ship it".
- ryanwaggoner 18y agoYeah, to be fair to the author, the explanation he gives is very close to "release it" but my point is more about which makes a better slogan.
- siong1987 18y agoMy advice would be "finish it and make sure it work".