Cowboy coding: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:46, 25 February 2010

Revision as of 06:53, 4 May 2010

Line 18:

Custom software applications, even when using a proven development cycle, can experience problems with the client concerning requirements. Cowboy coding can accentuate this problem by not scaling the requirements to a reasonable timeline, and may result in unused or unusable components being created before the project is finished. Similarly, projects with less tangible clients (often experimental projects, see [[independent game development]]) may begin with code and never a formal analysis of the design requirements. Lack of design analysis may lead to incorrect or insufficient technology choices, possibly requiring the developer to [[porting|port]] or rewrite their software in order for the project to be completed.

==== Incompleteness ====

Many software development models, such as [[SCRUMExtreme Programming]], use an incremental approach which stresses functional prototypes at each phase. Non-managed projects may have few [[unit testing|unit tests]] or working iterations, leaving an incomplete project unusable.

== Advantages of Cowboy Coding ==