News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride into sunset (2017). Parent comment

Re:Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride in... by bitwize on Thursday October 04, 2018 @08:29AM (#18139254)
Couldn't they just find the time to document while they're developing?

Oh, but they can't increase the estimate. The customer signed off on that estimate, so we're committed to deliver by that deadline.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride in... by bigmanwalter on Thursday October 04, 2018 @09:41AM (#18139763)
Not really. Code needs to solidify before you document it. Documentation is best saved for after a major release.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride in... by Ensorceled on Thursday October 04, 2018 @10:11AM (#18140016)
Exactly. I'm always surprised when people think that it's easy to find time for documentation and that you only skipped that step because you are lazy and/or unprofessional.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride in... by repolfx on Friday October 05, 2018 @03:56AM (#18146457)
Honestly, I know that's the conventional wisdom, but I've never once heard an engineer go to their manager and say, "I'd like to spend some time documenting this important process you asked me to implement" and being told "no, we don't have time to document! just keep it all in your head!"

I'm sure this literally never happens.

What I do see quite frequently is developers who don't like writing documentation finding ways to not do it or justify doing a poor job.

[ Parent | on HN ]