by Adam Singleton
Remember learning about fractals in math or science class? They’re repeating patterns that can be viewed at any scale. That is, keep zooming in on a fractal and you’ll keep seeing the same image — and the same complexity. When a project is first estimated, requirements are usually written at a high level with relatively little attention to detail. That’s especially true today, with the current focus on early releases, beta software, and fast iterations. Why write down a lot of details that are likely to be thrown away before implementation when the first customer release sends the app in a completely different direction?
by Kendall Wyman
How many times have I sat across from a client or potential client vigorously flogging the term “custom software development” to describe what they needed done (or thought we were doing ) and found that the client and I had vastly different understandings of what that term means? It is incredibly disconcerting to expect to see a cat and, instead, see, say, a loaded baked potato . . . or a mini pig in a tutu . . . or, less fatuously, auto manufacturing. What, exactly, is custom software development?
by Adam Singleton
An article published in Wired controversially predicts “The End of Code.” That’s an effective way to get the attention of people who code for a living. Let’s explore what this means for professional coders like myself and my A&L colleagues; for our clients who hire us to write code; and for society as a whole. Is coding as a human activity going away?
by J. Carlos Perez
Last week, most of the Art & Logic family came together for our annual conference. As a distributed company, we work remotely from throughout North America, and this annual meeting gives us an opportunity to review the work we’ve done as well as what we anticipate for the months ahead. We share with one another the ways in which our process benefited our clients as well as ways in which we might be able to adjust our process in order to better serve the needs of our clients. We dive deep into our work in custom software development, but also talk about music, art, sports, Star Wars (and other films), our families, our goals, and, of course, our frustrations and successes.
