Cowboy coding: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:47, 1 November 2010

Revision as of 15:28, 2 November 2010

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{{External links|date=January 2009}}

'''Cowboy coding''' is a term used to describe software development where programmersthe developers have [[autonomy]] over the development process. This includes control of the project's schedule, languages, algorithms, tools, frameworks and coding style.

A cowboy coder can be a lone developer or part of a group of developers working with minimaleither processno orexternal discipline. Usually it occurs when there is little participation by business users,management or fanned by management that controls only non-development aspects of the project, such as the broadits targets, timelinesnature, scope, and visualsfeature set (the "what", but not the "how").

Cowboy coding typicallycan hashave morepositive or negative [[connotations]], depending on one's opinions on the role of management and formal process in software development; "cowboy coding" is often used as a [[pejorative|derogatory]] term by supporters of software development methodologies, such as [[Agile software development|Agile]]. However, the term has been [[reclaimed word|reclaimed]] to some extent by those practicing within the community.

== Disadvantages of Cowboy Coding ==

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==== Inexperienced developers ====

Cowboy coding can beis common at the hobbyist or student level where developers may initially be unfamiliar with the technologies, such as testingthe [[build tool]]s, versionthat controlthe and/orproject buildrequires. tool,This usuallycan result in time required for learning to be underestimated, morecausing thandelays justin the basicdevelopment codingprocess. aInexperience softwaremay also lead to disregard of accepted [[Standard_Operating_Procedure#Information_technology_industry_use|standards]], making the project requires.source difficult to read or causing conflicts between the [[Semantics#Computer_science|semantics]] of the language constructs and the result of their output.

This can result in time required for learning to be underestimated, causing delays in the development process. Inexperience may also lead to disregard of accepted [[Standard_Operating_Procedure#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.

==== Uncertain design requirements ====

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.

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== Advantages of Cowboy Coding ==

* Developers maintain a free-formfreeform 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.

* Without a development/designer framework, the programmer, as opposed to the project manager, is responsible for removing roadblocks. This may improve the speed of development.