Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: Notesfiles; site ea.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!ea!mwm From: mwm@ea.UUCP Newsgroups: net.lang.c Subject: Re: Comments on book review - (nf) Message-ID: <5700004@ea.UUCP> Date: Tue, 15-May-84 21:15:00 EDT Article-I.D.: ea.5700004 Posted: Tue May 15 21:15:00 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 18-May-84 01:43:03 EDT References: <219@cubsvax.UUCP> Lines: 37 Nf-ID: #R:cubsvax:-21900:ea:5700004:000:1685 Nf-From: ea!mwm May 15 20:15:00 1984 #R:cubsvax:-21900:ea:5700004:000:1685 ea!mwm May 15 20:15:00 1984 /***** ea:net.lang.c / utzoo!henry / 1:02 pm May 9, 1984 */ I've heard too many people say "well, everybody knows that is all just a matter of personal taste, so I'll do any way I damn well please and you have no right to object". Admitting the importance of personal factors does not imply admitting that they are the only important factors. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry /* ---------- */ Sorry, Henry, but in programming, the personal factor *is* the dominant one. You should use whatever method gets the results you need, preferably minimizing over pain to you. However, you should consider one thing that nobody seems to have mentioned: what do you want the code for? Is this an "I need it yesterday" program? Is it a program to experiment with a language? Maybe to experiment with a concept? Is it a tool you're going to use and probably modify later? I use different styles for each of these type of programs (I tend to choose different languages, too!). If I've got the time, I tend to design the user interface, then choose the algorithm, choose the language, and code the program using iterative refinement. I find that this leads to more maintainable code than any other approach I've tried - including the Yourdon Overplanning approach. Of course, one of the times I worked with a team, I used the Yourdon approach. I had to, as the other team members weren't capable of choosing an algorithm, and just barely capable of coding it [I got code from team members that wouldn't compile, for Finagle's sake!]. But this is just a case of fitting the programming style to the individual.