[techtalk] XP vs UML

[Shari]

>I'm firmly in the UML camp, but in the minimalist wing.

I agree with this sentiment.  UML has its pros and cons, and I definitely think the more 
high-level, the better.  

>They "rapidly" turn out code that deals with the most obvious aspects
>of the problem, but is structuraly at odds with the complete 
>requirements.

Yeah, about that, where do the requirements come in? One thing that is foggy to me (and maybe 
its because I can't seem to get past the thick marketing hype of XP) is where do the actual 
business/use-case requirements come in? Do they ever?  Is it more of a strong end-user 
involvement in the design process than anything else?  Come up with a metaphor, get a team 
together, start coding only what you need, etc.  

>They then "rapidly" pile on layer after layer of fixes and "exception
>handling" until they have complete chaos.

I like the team aspect of it, brain-storming, etc.  There is a kind of guerilla-coding 
mentality that does appeal to me on some level.  But I'm also tired of 80-work weeks during 
deployment/implementation.

> But I rely on the rigors of a methodology to check myself to make certain I have at last 
spun consistent delusions.

No comment here, just found this amusing ;-)  So *that's* what methodologies are for!

>But I always have determined in advance, what information I
>have to have in the model for it to be complete, as least as
>far as a given feature goes. There's a place in the model
>for that information, if it is missing the model is not complete.
>
>Period.

Agreed.  And, your model is also only as good as the business requirements you have gathered.  
And ... how well your tech team follows it (another topic, maybe).  Certain people (ahem, 
those management types) seem to think that 80-90% of the actual design work should be done 
before the development/construction process begins, but I think even with a good, complete 
model there's always scope creep, which can turn into design changes.  At least with UML you 
can see where you started from!