Manage It!

Tip 6

Code and Fix Is Never a Useful Life Cycle

Never use “code and fix” as your life cycle. Never, never, never. Well-meaning people start with code and fix because they think it’s faster than doing a planning game, prototyping to know what you could do, or gathering some requirements. It’s not. No matter what life cycle you choose, make sure you plan at least a little at the beginning of the project. Dilbert summed this life cycle up nicely. The Pointy Haired Boss says, “You guys start coding; I’ll get the requirements.”

You don’t need to know all of the requirements to start. Implement by feature, timebox the iterations, and work with your customer to make sure you’re developing what the customer wants. But don’t fall into the trap that ...