How do some people get away with it ?

[Chance1234]

Ive picked up a word VBA project, apparently written by a so called proffesional. I would more use the phrase one armed ferret.

the tanglement of code is unbelievable, the thing that makes me laugh/cry/bang head is that the original developer spent some considerable time creating extra menu items and functions for things that are all ready in word, if they bothered to look. His take on autotext is amazingly superfluos.

then theres the error coding or should be, code works with errors, in case of more errors , heres more code, in case of more errors, heres more code etc etc.

though the creme de la creme is who originally wrote it, tis was one of the big blue chip consulting companies.

was a bit unsure on what forum to stick this in, was thinking the ethical forum at first, but it just amazes me... well keeps us in work

Chance,

Filmmaker, gentlemen and forum1229

 

[TruthInSatire]

They get away with it because they produce a product that works. It may not be pretty, but it gets the job done. I've seen some customers pretty amazed by the simplist of tasks done by people that can't tell a scroll bar from a track ball. As long as they get a product, they're just happy there are people that can do it, reguardless of how pretty or "spaghetti wired" it is in the back end. That part isn't the customers concern.

If you don't ask the right questions, you don't get the right answers. A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer. Asking questions is the ABC of diagnosis. Only the inquiring mind solves problems.

-Quote by Edward Hodnett

 

[tazuk]

Having worked for one of the

big blue chip consulting companies

in the past it's worth noting that they may use such projects as an opportunity to train up staff in new skills, often without a mentor / code checker.

TazUk

Blue-screening PCs since 1998

 

[SQLSister]

When programmers are not supervised by someone with programming skills or code checks are not performed, then inefficent spaghetti code results.

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[ChrisHunt]

I've worked for Big Blue Chip Consulting Companies too. The biggest bunch of cowboys I've ever come across. They trade entirely on their blue chip reputation, swaggering around in big suits for months then hiring in a bunch of contractors (at the client's expense) to actually get the thing working at the last minute.

It must be tempting, if you have a big project to outsource, to think "these guys are the biggest in the business, they must be the best". Not so. They're so big that they don't care whether your project succeeds or fails - they've got the muscle to make sure they still make pots of money out of you either way. Were I ever in that position, I'd go with a smaller company every time.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[chiph]

Back when Arthur Anderson was still around & doing consulting, my experience with them was that all they did was run up the toner & paper bill. Every time a design spec changed, they would print out the entire document, and distribute fresh copies to everyone. Seldom would they actually write some real code.

Chip H.


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[Stevehewitt]

Just left the very same company Chip - no different. (Albeit a name change!)

 

[ChrisHunt]

Anyone care to guess which particular Big Blue Chip Company I was working for? ...

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[flapeyre]

(This post intentionally left blank)

Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!

 

[xmsre]

Let's follow the lineage ...

Arthur Anderson

A**enture

Avanade

Hmm... notice how they all start with "A"

 

[mart40]

A lot of the trouble comes from having to much resource available..

back in the early 8 bit (yes that far back!!) days you had to cram a whole lot of stuff into such little space.

result.. optimised code that achieved what was needed.

come to today, and you have massive space and little time (some one will get in before you ,,, we need it now!!)

so the coding is not efficient and streamlined, it is get the job done dont worry about size , style or ease of tech use ..

we end up with poor sloppy code that takes up far to much space. i was always tought? to use linear code, with adequate explanations .. in case some one had to take over if there was a problem..


Mart

 

[jtb]

there's a lot left unstated here... and I think the fact that a consultant left and someone internal came to finish the job is significant (unless I misread the first post)...

The job may not have been finished, it could have been part of a RAD, it might not have been paid for (lots of free stuff provided by some consultants on "strategic deals"...

I think the answer is in the middle somewhere between the high-priced/underpaid consultant is a genius who slopped together some code to meet a deadline and the high-priced/underpaid consultant is part of an evil conspiracy...

Just my 2¢...

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[Chance1234]

Wells its May and Im still working on it , so cant complain really

Chance,

Filmmaker, gentlemen and I'm on page 96 on the MX Flash Bible

 

[stormbind]

I agree with everything said in this post, but I am convinced that many bigger firms use spaghetti code to prevent easy maintenance.

They also drag out projects, to make the client think it's a really big job. I know of a business that has been waiting MONTHS for their consultant to edit MX records: a job that should take only seconds. It is disgusting!

I am not trying to blow my own trumpet:

All my projects come complete with documentation, explaining which technologies were used and sourcode with useful comments. There is no hiding solutions or twisting a client's arm to make them hire me again. I like to think the clients will come back, valuing my honesty... but I see why some firms might prefer to make things as hazy as possible with the intent of forcing clients to remain on their books

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[ecobb]

I actually know of a company that intentionally does this. My largest client hired me to come in and take over a project that this "development" company had tried to do for them. It was for a massive web application. The development company insisted on using MS Access for the project, even though my client already had 1 SQL Server and 2 Oracle Servers. After about 6 months, the applicaion had grown so large that Access couldn't handle it anymore (that's when they called me).

I spoke with one of the original developers about it, and he actually told me that he wanted to use Oracle but his boss forced him to use Access so that the client would have to pay them to come back and rewrite it with Oracle once it outgrew Access. This particular developer actually lost his job because he refused to do it.



Hope This Helps!

ECAR
ECAR Technologies, LLC

http://www.ecartech.com

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[Sashanan2]

Hopeless. It's people like that that make it hard for us to develop a proper reputation as a whole. No wonder we're eyed suspiciously if we've got colleagues/competitors among us that justify those suspicions.

I've never willingly made something hard to maintain. The one time that time constraints forced me to do a bit of spaghetti code, I let me employer know, and I vowed to myself to rewrite the routine properly in the next update. There's still a little nagging voice at the back of my head telling me to take the GOTOs and the other mess out of that horrible routine once time permits, even as I am scared to touch a complicated routine that works properly right now.

"Any fool can defend his or her mistakes; and most fools do." -- Dale Carnegie

 

[davidwendelken]

A:

"Most large projects either fail outright, or are grossly late or grossly over budget."

B:

"Most large projects are done by the big consulting firms."


Draw your own conclusions.

David Wendelken

http://www.casetech.net