Avoiding R&D in Production

Since the days when computers first came into common use, there must have been tens of thousands of accounts receivable programs written. There are probably a dozen or more accounts receivable projects underway as you read these words. And somewhere today, one of them is failing. — Peopleware, DeMarco & Lister

We software developers are notoriously tribal. Whether it’s our editor, or language, or framework, or whatever else, we’re somewhat prone to… well… let’s just say… debates about the minutiae of our relative choices.

As a young freelancer, I could never quite grasp why these finer details wouldn’t come across to a prospective client. Frankly, they didn’t give a damn that we were going to use Technology A, that I was proposing, rather than Technology B, featured by a competitor.

— Is it somehow not possible with B? — Oh, no B can do it (just as well, I guess).