Business-focused custom software

• Can you leave your application on legacy technology? A cautionary tale

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 9/8/2022 3:13:30 AM

  Legacy technology is always a tricky question. Constantly re-writing applications so that they are using the latest and greatest technology/framework/etc. seems unrealistic as this can be quite expensive, with little perceived value for customers and end-users if there are no new features. On the other hand, technology often has a shelf life; over time it may not work on newer operating systems or with other services that do get updated.

  Here’s an example: an application written in VB6 that has been running for almost 25 years! In addition, it is running on Windows XP and using SQL Server 2000. It ...

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• Trust and Efficiency–Yes, that is the point

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 6/21/2021 5:23:55 AM

  This piece on charging hourly for programming services really nails it, I think. Programmers often get bogged down in fears that they will not be paid fairly unless they get to charge by the hour for everything. But there isn’t any financial incentive to minimize bugs when you are charging extra for them. And you are communicating something to a customer when you use this approach, and it isn’t that you are a seasoned professional who has confidence in their work. You are telling them: I intend to squeeze every last dollar out of you.

  When I build software for ...

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• Is getting "ripped off" by a programmer likely?

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 1/26/2021 6:34:51 AM

  This article at Entrepreneur.com offers tips to avoid getting "ripped off" by a freelance developer. While I find the term "ripped off" offensive, I think it is certainly true that it is possible to hire someone who does not fulfill their obligations to you as a customer. But is this likely?

  
  

  If you are new to hiring a programmer and have little programming experience, it is definitely a possibility that the project will go badly. Some of that may be the programmer's fault - they may not listen carefully enough to your requirements or they may make poor implementation decisions. ...

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• Software Maintenance is the Most Important Phase

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 1/25/2021 10:00:00 AM

  It is easy to assume that the most important phase of a software development application's life cycle is the beginning, when the initial development takes place. That's when the technology and architecture for an application is established, so it seems like it would be important. But is it?

  
  

  I'm reading Adam Tornhill's book Your Code as a Crime Scene: Use Forensic Techniques to Arrest Defects, Bottlenecks, and Bad Design in Your Programs. Early on, he refers to Robert Glass and his book Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering. Glass argues that maintenance is the most important phase in ...

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• Too much flexibility can be dangerous

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 3/15/2012 6:40:24 AM

  One of my customers LOVES to ask for configuration options. Often when I ask “do you want that implemented as “a” or “b” he will reply “can you make it something we can change later?” It isn’t that he wants to make my job harder (although sometimes it feels that way.) The problem is that he understands their environment, and he knows change is likely.

  But making everything “flexible” adds cost, not only in initial development, but also in testing and maintenance. It can even be dangerous. When options are infrequently used, it is easy to forget how they work. This ...

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