Raible Designs

The problem with Deadlines

Keith brings something to the table that I did not know (but I did suspect):

Anyway, back to the likely effects of applying schedule pressure. It is interesting to note that a University of NSW study, quoted in Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, concluded that "projects on which the boss applied no schedule pressure whatsoever ("Just wake me up when you're done.") had the highest productivity of all."

The problem is that we, as software developers, will always end up with tight (sometimes ridiculous) deadlines - and customers will always want us to do it for less. This is reasonable considering that this is how the business world runs and thrives. Get it done quicker for less. The interesting thing is I don't think this happens with other engineering projects, such as constructing buildings, houses, public works, etc. Sure the folks who are paying for the project want it to get done cheap and fast, but there's all kinds of permits and inspections that have to take place throughout the process.

Wouldn't it be ironic if someday if folks (from a 3rd party) would come in every so often and inspect and approve our code?

Deadlines suck, plain and simple. The reason they exists is that someone (that's paying your wages) told someone else they could have something done by ${insert date here}. I doubt it'll ever end until we're the ones paying the wages and promising deliverables - to make our businesses profitable and our customers happy. The other option is to get a really cool boss that understands Software Development and actually listens to your estimates. I've had this a couple of times - man those folks are cool to work for. Kudos to Dan and Alan - you guys really know how to run a software shop.