[Techtalk] Re: [Grrltalk] Documentation

[Malcolm-Rannirl]

(not cc'd to grrrltalk as I'm not on that list, forward if apppropriate).

On Tuesday 22 October 2002 06:36 pm, Mary wrote:

> On Tue, Oct 22, 2002, Alvin Goats wrote:
> > Unfortunately, the developer is also the one who knows the thing best.

Not always. Knowing how something was implemented does not mean you know the 
best way to *use* it.

> I've had someone who knows cars inside out try and teach me to drive
> better and it was excruciating, because every helpful tip was
> *preceeded* by an explanation of what I was doing to the clutch plate
> using my current technique. I needed it explained in terms of the gear
> stick and the clutch, because that's how I interact with cars, not in
> terms of the drive shaft and clutch plate, which is how he interacts
> with cars.

To expand this analogy, the person might be a wonderful mechanic, but an 
awful driver. I've written things where I had enough domain knowledge to 
implement, but not enough to effectively use the tool created. I could use it 
on a basic level (enough to do initial testing before handing off to someone 
who did have the domain knowledge to do thorough testing). It's quite 
possible to do, you just need useful specs and decent feedback from the 
domain experts.



-- 
"Human ways are often unfathomable, but in time, one learns to live with 
them."
"If one has an exceedingly strong constitution."
- Delenn and G'Kar in Babylon 5:"The War Prayer"

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