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.
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…
