Working under pressure as a developer Apr23 '07

After assigning me a development project, please do not ask me, "How long do you think that will take?"

No one has the ability to predict the answer to such a question. Those who do answer the question with their "best estimate" are only kidding themselves. There is no way to determine how long any task will take until it is in-progress.

As a developer, I often find it hard to answer that question, and it's not because I don't like deadlines, or because I crumble under pressure. It's simply because a developer can't think about a task in this manner.

In other words, there's a difference between thinking about the task "as a whole," and thinking about the task "piece by piece."

A developer doesn't solve a problem by thinking about "the whole." They solve a problem by thinking about each incremental piece, leading up to a larger solution.

A developer can hardly see their next line of code, let alone how long it will take to complete everything.

The reflection process

At the same time, a developer can't be pressured into shortening the span of time that it takes to fully reflect on a programming task.

Development requires reflection - which combines aspects of how you'd like to do it, and how you've done it in the past.

If you force a developer to work under immediate pressure, the stress may cause the developer to rush through the "reflection process," thereby causing incomplete work and aggravation.

Examples of unwanted side-effects include sloppy code, poor documentation, bugs, and the loss of data.

A little pressure is always healthy - but not so much that it impedes a developers "thought process."

Categories: Development , Stress

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I think you are sorely mistaken that development tasks cannot be broken down. In fact, to involve technology in any sort of business process a rea ... Read more.

Sorry - I think I am being misinterpreted slightly - my bad. Maybe this helps: I think you are sorely mistaken that devel ... Read more.

Another thing that is a big factor in how long a project will take, is the delivery of content. If I have everything I need to build a simple web s ... Read more.

Amanda, I agree fully. Take that same simple project, and without content, you have no basis for creating a time line. ... Read more.

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