Re: Why specs matter (On The Two Types Of Developers)

[tbp1...@gmail.com]

Nifty idea!  Without wanting to get political here, I think the Preamble to 
the US Constitution contains the essential user requirements:

" We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of 
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America."


On Monday, May 16, 2022 at 11:28:04 PM UTC-4 David Szent-Györgyi wrote:

> Rereading that "Dive into Mark" posting again after many years, with my US 
> State's primary election coming tomorrow, my thoughts go in another 
> direction: I think of parallels with respect to the law. 
>
> For "a**holes" read "lawyers". For "morons" read "legislators". 
>
> Reading Tom's distinction between "requirements" and "specifications", I 
> think that those who believe the US Constitution to be a living document 
> focus on requirements, while the Originalists focus on specifications. 
>
> *sigh*
>
>>

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"leo-editor" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to leo-editor+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/leo-editor/a9af0abc-b465-4b7f-8dd7-920cc16eaf3en%40googlegroups.com.

Re: Why specs matter (On The Two Types Of Developers)

[David Szent-Györgyi]

Rereading that "Dive into Mark" posting again after many years, with my US 
State's primary election coming tomorrow, my thoughts go in another 
direction: I think of parallels with respect to the law. 

For "a**holes" read "lawyers". For "morons" read "legislators". 

Reading Tom's distinction between "requirements" and "specifications", I 
think that those who believe the US Constitution to be a living document 
focus on requirements, while the Originalists focus on specifications. 

*sigh*

>

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"leo-editor" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to leo-editor+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/leo-editor/db9c68eb-ca42-4317-bdbc-00cff812e796n%40googlegroups.com.

Re: Why specs matter (On The Two Types Of Developers)

[tbp1...@gmail.com]

People often mix up requirements and specifications.  Requirements are for 
setting out what will be required of the system, preferably in terms of the 
user or builder - for example, "transport a family of four with luggage at 
least 450 miles in a day without refuelling".  Note that this may or may 
not be measurable per se. 

Requirements can apply to GUI interfaces too.  For example, in my GF4 
project i have a strong (though as yet unwritten) requirement that error 
messages must not need user action to be dispatched (so, for example, no 
modal error boxes that have to be clicked on).  I implement this 
requirement by having error messages display in a message strip, flash 
gently to get one's attention, and then fade away over a period of some 
seconds.

Specifications detail measurable (or observable) things about the system 
that act to fulfil the requirements.  For the requirement above, some 
assumptions or ground rules need to be spelled out somewhere:

The volume needed for the luggage;
the total weight of the passengers;
the volume of the passenger required for the trip;
etc

Now there can be (part of) a specification:

"The vehicle shall be able to drive on an interstate highway for at least 
475 miles at a minimum speed of 55 mph in no more than 8 hours on a full 
tank (containing 21 gallons) of 86-octane gasoline while carrying the the 
reference number of passengers and amount of luggage".

Note that this specification can be tested, unlike the requirement.

Requirements and specifications are communication devices, needed more and 
more as more and more people become involved in designing a system.  Though 
not needed for a personal project - the person, after all, knows more or 
less what they have in mind - it can be helpful to have at least a 
rudimentary set of requirements even in that case - in effect, one 
communicates with one's past or future self.


On Friday, May 13, 2022 at 3:44:17 PM UTC-4 Edward K. Ream wrote:

> On Fri, May 13, 2022 at 2:09 PM tbp1...@gmail.com  
> wrote:
>
>> Why specs matter  
>> 
>>  
>>
>
> Hmm. Crude, but interesting.
>
> I've never used specs myself. Imo, what matters is the quality of the 
> conversations surrounding a project. Leo has always been informal and 
> experimental. My next project, which I'll discuss here in a day or so, will 
> have informal goals, but the final product will likely be more formal.
>
> Edward
>

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"leo-editor" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to leo-editor+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/leo-editor/ad67bdb7-4b10-445c-ad1a-1530791c2d4bn%40googlegroups.com.

Re: Why specs matter (On The Two Types Of Developers)

[Edward K. Ream]

On Fri, May 13, 2022 at 2:09 PM tbp1...@gmail.com 
wrote:

> Why specs matter
> 
>
>

Hmm. Crude, but interesting.

I've never used specs myself. Imo, what matters is the quality of the
conversations surrounding a project. Leo has always been informal and
experimental. My next project, which I'll discuss here in a day or so, will
have informal goals, but the final product will likely be more formal.

Edward

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"leo-editor" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to leo-editor+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/leo-editor/CAMF8tS25PH6_S7mZvCYC3VwQCB%3DdUPFDLg35Zs2SbVGRA2vR4g%40mail.gmail.com.

Why specs matter (On The Two Types Of Developers)

[tbp1...@gmail.com]

Why specs matter  

 

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"leo-editor" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to leo-editor+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/leo-editor/a7c277ef-7f0d-4c65-b005-d1892ab70607n%40googlegroups.com.