Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
Implement features that are known to be loved in other programs, on your own
superboyac:
What I've found over the years is that most non-programmer folks have zero idea how easy or hard an idea is to implement. In fact, there have been lots of times where I have had requests from non-programmer types that they think is super easy (in their head) and, in reality, would be nigh impossible to do programmatically.
-skwire (August 16, 2011, 12:12 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's me! Recently, I wanted to understand this better, so I explored how people program in Visual Studio and RAd studio, and I can understand better what the developers have to deal with. It truly is a headache to add buttons and menu things that work just right, especially when it's not a simple on/off feature. A simple feature request can be a nightmare to implement, and I saw that to make it really pretty or elegant, or to remove some responsiveness issues sometimes means that you have to redo a lot of things from scratch. Especially when a lot of the components have come in from premade controls and stuff.
So I have a better and more sympathetic understanding now, thankfully. Hopefully, I'm not behaving as intolerantly as before with my feature requests!
wraith808:
I concur with f0dder's comments. What it boils down to for me is ROI (Return On Investment):
* Is the requested feature worth the time it takes for me to implement it?
This includes trying to forecast how many other users would use such a feature. That first question leads to the second question I ask myself:
* How easily can I implement such a request within the limitations of the GUI toolkit/controls I am working with?
This is something that non-programmer folks NEVER consider. They see it done in one application and think it can be slapped into any other application in under ten seconds. There have been instances where I would very much like to add a given feature but cannot due to such limitations.
What I've found over the years is that most non-programmer folks have zero idea how easy or hard an idea is to implement. In fact, there have been lots of times where I have had requests from non-programmer types that they think is super easy (in their head) and, in reality, would be nigh impossible to do programmatically.
-skwire (August 16, 2011, 12:12 PM)
--- End quote ---
Amen. I need to print this out and post it LOL
skwire:
You know...it's not always a matter of GUI controls or elegance. Sometimes, a user will suggest an idea, method or some functionality that, to the human brain, is done without a second thought. However, translating said idea to code is futile. I've sometimes thought to myself, "Humans are subjective, code is not."
I hope that made some sense...
mouser:
Before you print that out and post it on your wall.. I think it misses the most important part of the equation.
My experience has been that it's rarely the time-to-implement that kills you.. It's the maintenance over time and added complexity and potential for unforseen interactions that does it.
It's often very easy to add a small feature request, but over time they do build up and tend to make the code harder to maintain and debug, and that's where you really get into trouble mentally.
Having said that, it's hard to resist adding features that make people happy :)
superboyac:
You know...it's not always a matter of GUI controls or elegance. Sometimes, a user will suggest an idea, method or some functionality that, to the human brain, is done without a second thought. However, translating said idea to code is futile. I've sometimes thought to myself, "Humans are subjective, code is not."
I hope that made some sense...
-skwire (August 16, 2011, 03:51 PM)
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I agree with that. i keep wanting to define everything in life with precision, but it can't be done, and to try after a certain point is just an exercise in frustration.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version