Cowboy coding: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Derogatory term in software development}}

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'''Cowboy coding''' is [[software development]] where programmers have [[autonomy]] over the development process. This includes control of the project's schedule, languages, algorithms, tools, frameworks and coding style. The more gender neutral term, "tornado coding" is gaining acceptance as the preferred term.

'''Cowboy coding''' is [[software development]] where programmers have [[autonomy]] over the development process. This includes control of the project's schedule, languages, algorithms, tools, frameworks and coding style. TheTypically, more gender neutral term,little "tornadoto coding"no iscoordination gainingexists acceptancewith asother thedevelopers preferredor termstakeholders.

A cowboy coder can be a lone developer or part of a group of developers working with minimal process or discipline.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Usually it occurs when there is little participation by business users, or fanned by management that controls only non-development aspects of the project, such as the broad targets, timelines, scope, and visuals (the "what", but not the "how").{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}

A cowboy coder can be a lone developer or part of a group of developers working with minimal process or discipline.<ref>{{Citationcite web needed|last1=Scott |first1=Welker |title=cowboy coding |url=https://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/cowboy-coding |website=searchsoftwarequality |publisher=TechTarget |access-date=January2 March 20112022}}</ref> Usually it occurs when there is little participation by business users, or fanned by management that controls only non-development aspects of the project, such as the broad targets, timelines, scope, and visuals (the "what", but not the "how").{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}

"Cowboy coding" commonly sees usage as a [[pejorative|derogatory]] term when contrasted with more structured [[software development methodology|software development methodologies]].

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Cowboy coding can be common at the hobbyist or student level where developers might initially be unfamiliar with the technologies, such as testing, version control and/or build tools, usually more than just the basic coding a software project requires.

This can result in underestimating time required for learning, causing delays in the development process. Inexperience might also lead to disregard of accepted [[Standard Operatingoperating Procedureprocedure#Information technology industry use|standards]], making the project source difficult to read or causing conflicts between the [[Semantics#Computer science|semantics]] of the language constructs and the result of their output.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stickyminds.com/presentation/stareast-2000-confessions-recovering-coding-cowboy|title=StickyMinds - STAREAST 2000: Confessions of a (Recovering) Coding Cowboy|work=StickyMinds|accessdate=February 2, 2016}}</ref>

===Uncertain design requirements===

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* Developers maintain a free-form working environment that may encourage experimentation, learning, and free distribution of results.

* It allows developers to cross architectural and/or tiered boundaries to resolve design limitations and defects.

* As discussing architectures, writing specifications and reviewing the code all take their time, a single developer (if sufficient) may well produce a working application faster by cowboy coding. Tasks like research or prototyping may not require the code quality more complex methods provide.

* Since coding can be done during the developer's free time, a project could come to fruition which otherwise wouldn't have.<ref>K, Alex. [httphttps://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/googles-20-percent-time-in-action.html "Google's '20 percent time' in action"], Official Google Blog, May 18, 2006</ref>

==See also==

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* [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CowboyCoder Cowboy Coder] definition at [[Ward Cunningham|Ward's]] Wiki

* [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CowboyCoding Cowboy Coding] definition at [[Ward Cunningham|Ward's]] Wiki

* [{{cite web|url=http://cowboyprogramming.com/2007/01/11/delving-into-cowboy-programming/ |title=Delving into Cowboy Programming]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323115724/http://cowboyprogramming.com/2007/01/11/delving-into-cowboy-programming/|archivedate=2019-03-23}}

{{independent media}}