Restaurants at the end of the Web...
As noted earlier, I’ve spent most of the last month working with the Software Factories team. It’s easily the most exciting thing I’ve been involved in since the inception of the Web.
However, like many previous non-linear shifts in thinking, it can be both difficult to describe and easily misunderstood. Having faced this problem many times I’m going to stick my foot into it once again and try to explain the difference between the way we do things now and the way developers will work with a Software Factory.
Before I say anything else, let me say, once again, Software Factories are not intended to make developers into drones nor are they designed to put anyone out of business. They are, just as assemblers and compilers were, designed to make it easier to develop certain types software.
There, now that that’s out-of-the-way, let me say that Software Factories will change how many developers deliver software to customers.
Ok, now what, you ask, is this about restaurants...
By far the easiest analogy I’ve been able to use to explain Software Factories is one related to the preparation of food. (Please note: I didn’t invent this type of analogy but I think I am now able to use it in a way that is easy to understand…so here goes).
For your dining pleasure I present three of SoftwareLand’s finest eating establishments:
1. Irv The ISV’s Custom Diner
We make each meal one-at-a-time…and we never make it until you ask for it!
Scenario: We don't specialize in anything. A GENERIC diner which serves you anything you want built from scratch every time.
2. The Consultancy Buffet
We make it our way, before you get here!
Scenario: Specializing in the kind of food we think want you to want to eat and nothing else.
3. Factorio Sofwario
We offer the finest cuisine prepared to order from our world-famous recipes
Scenario: A DOMAIN SPECIFIC food preparation environment that serves EXACTLY the kind of food you want to eat from a menu of reasonable choices.
In the next three days I’ll explain in detail how each of these works and wrap it up with a set of reviews and recommendations.
Comments
Anonymous
October 31, 2004
The comment has been removedAnonymous
November 01, 2004
John, I have asked myself that question. Over the years I have seen some amazing factories where highly skilled workers with domain specific experience were able to build things they could not have built without the support of the factory infrastructure. The point of Software Factories, in my opinion, is to allow people with the experience, predisposition, and desire to work closely with customers (which is most certainly a small portion of the development community) to do so in a highly accelerated manner.
I would also assert that it requires highly experienced, talented people with a different predisposition (desire to build tools and infrastructure) to build a factory.
Right now we have many, many (again my personal opinion) people who labor under the weight of having to build an enormous amount of infrastructure before they can actually build their application. Quite a few of these people are not inclined nor experienced enough to be tool builders but are forced into that role due to the primitive nature of the tools we use. The net result is that we continue to expend wasted labor building one-off implementations and stand on the toes of those who came before us rather than on the shoulders.
So, I agree the name "Factories" is controversial but I think that may also (eventually) get people to investigate what it's all about (assuming they don't just react to the name without reading the background material) and find out that it will expand rather than contract the demand for developers of both kinds.Anonymous
May 26, 2009
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May 31, 2009
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June 09, 2009
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