Asking for Estimates: The Telltale Sign of Ineffective Software Development Practices

And that is because you are missing the most important and crucial question to be done.

Prompted and edited by the author

Estimates seem to be unavoidable and indispensable for any software development, and yet we can’t seem to shake them from our minds. This is because when we think about a new development project, we often imagine someone from the business side approaching a developer, explaining their idea, and quickly asking: “When will it be done?” But that is the wrong question!

We shouldn’t rely on asking for estimates, and it doesn’t have to be this way; in fact, this is a sign that we are not getting the most out of our team and are producing far less from what we could achieve.

The right for asking estimates.

One of the most prominent figures in the world of software development and Agile (one of its earliest signatories) is Robert C. Martin. He has spent much of his life searching for a code of ethics for our profession, similar to the Hippocratic oath for doctors. And in one of his final stages, he included estimates inside that oath for developers.

Robert C. Martin started his search years ago by defining SOLID. SOLID were intended to be the five principles that every developer should follow, five principles to guide every developer into a good quality code.

But later he discovered testing and TDD, and that blew his mind. For him, TDD became a guiding light in ensuring that the code works as intended. So, he wrote the three rules of TDD that every developer should follow, so finally, when a developer would say “I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment”, the developer would know they had done everything humanly possible.

However, year after year, he saw that it was not enough. So he wrote and participated in several other ideas and manifestos. And, finally, in his last stance, Robert C. Martin wrote the Clean Craftsmanship book, presenting the Bill of Rights for our industry. But this time he presented it from two perspectives: “The Customer Bill Of Rights” and “The Developer Bill Of Rights,” each of these Bill of Rights had five points, and one of the…