...and in the time it took me to tab from the Subject line to the message body, I forgot what I was going to say. Ever have one of those days?
What I _really_ wanted to ask was how you got started. You've been working on a project for a while, and then you put it aside for a while (you can define 'while' to be anywhere from 10 minutes to a week, or more). Now it's time to pick it back up again. And all that info that was swirling around in your head - the mental map of what you were working on - is gone. You have to reacquire it. Alan Schwartz said that the key to successful RAD is to keep the iteration time shorter than your attention span. I guess that's why I keep buying faster and faster computers, even though I'm still using the same tools I was five years ago. And DeMarco said that the single most critical aspect of software development is long blocks of uninterrupted time. He suggested that it takes 20 minutes to become one with the ball again after an interruption. I have five kids, a wife, and a really annoying neighbor. I haven't seen 20 uninterrupted minutes since I was 36. So.... looking at the rest of my year, I'm faced with the reality that I won't be seeing those 'long blocks of uninterrupted time' until everyone else in my family dies or graduates from college. The neighbor, well, I found she hates Black Sabbath. One takes the little wins when one can. Thus, I've decided that I need to adjust my development style, in the face of Schwartz and DeMarco. I need to pick up a project I had to put aside last Thursday, and get something productive done in the next 90 minutes. I don't have a 10 hour block of time with which I can regrok the thing. A writer friend of mine says that he never stops work at the end of a chapter, or even the end of a section. He stops right in the middle of something that's flowing really well, because it's so much easier to pick it back up and quickly get in the groove. What do you guys do? Whil _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
