smcculloch posted on March 12, 2006 04:39
I just found this link on the web to an e-book from the guys at 37signals.com...
"Discover the smarter, faster and easier way to build a successful web app."
Taking a look at some of the sample chapters I can't help but agree with some of the principles..
- Scale Later: You don't have a scaling problem yet. (Ya know what? Wait until it actually happens)
I've met a lot of programmers who worry about the slightest impact on performance and spend huge chunks of time tuning for something that might never inventuate. Keeping a sensible level of scaling is just common sense and comes with experience. The developer should know what is slow and avoid it, but not at the expense have actually producing functionality.
Depends on the type of meeting, if I meet with a customer, it's because the project needs to know something that the developer's doesn't. I think this is too much of a generalisation and only applies when the developer knows exactly what they are producing. Avoid unnecessary meetings I say, and keep the numbers to a minimum.
- Design the Inteface First
Couldn't agree more, I am a big fan of producing html mockups of web applications first. Or at least drawing the system flow for a user on a piece of paper.
The rest of the book actually looks pretty good and I may consider buying it. Most of it seems common sense, but it's often the simple things we overlook.