Tips for Working with Programmers

• Why I love that you found a bug (really!)

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 5/27/2009 7:52:59 AM

  I hate bugs in my code and want to squash them. RIGHT NOW.

  But…

  When you report that you have found a bug, that means you’ve been testing.

  And it means that you have tested the code sufficiently to discover something I didn’t find. So you probably did more than just log-in.

  And that makes me happy. I love it when you care enough about the application to give it a good work out. I want this software to be good, and it can only be good if you help. Without your efforts, the software will suck. Big time. ...

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• Source Code Control: Snapshots of the Code (and why business people should care)

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 5/26/2009 8:07:53 AM

  I have a theory that the reason why normal people are so put off by programmers is that they use goofy, complex language that is meaningless to most people. For example, take the phrase “Source Code Management” or “Source Code Control”.

  What the heck is that?

  It is software that programmers use to capture copies of the source code as it is changed. Think of it as a camera taking pictures of the code at various moments in time. These snapshots are stored in a central location for all the team.

  What do they use it for?

  A couple of ...

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• Why the scope creep monster doesn’t frighten me

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 5/8/2009 9:54:28 AM

  Most independent programmers have a fear of scope creep. Actually that’s not completely true. Most have a fear of scope creep they won’t be paid for. For those who are doing a fixed bid project, the fear is that expanding scope will eat away at any profit until they are making about $1.30/hour. Yikes.

  To compensate, some programmers get very aggressive about delineating project scope. They become militant when even a small feature change is suggested. And I have a lot of sympathy for that position.

  But I don’t share it.

  Look, everyone I know who has been in ...

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• How to frustrate your users by making data entry annoying

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 4/30/2009 10:14:34 AM

  All I wanted to do was to create some calendar entries. A date, some times, and a description. Not too tough.

  Except the person who created the user interface has clearly not spent a lot of time actually doing this task. Take a look at the form:

  

  Now consider for a moment how annoying it is to enter start and end times on this form. It always defaults to “01:00 AM”, which of course is NEVER the start time for one of my appointments. So I must always change the first drop down value. And if the appointment starts on ...

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• Don’t forget the docs!

  By Avonelle Lovhaug

  Publication Date: 4/24/2009 2:58:12 PM

  Everyone hates documentation. It is either boring or it doesn’t answer provide the needed answers. Many programmers agree that documentation is critical when they are taking over a project for someone else, and think it is completely unimportant when they need to create it themselves.

  So as a customer: what documentation should you expect or require from your programmer?

  Every situation is different, but here are some documents you may want to consider requesting:

  System Design

  This is the specification that was (usually) created before the programming began. It can include functional specifications, wireframes, screen mockups, user stores, UML diagrams, ...

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