Listening to: BBC Radio 1

Anyone who uses software a lot will be aware of the evolution of a programme from
version to version, how the quality generally peaks at version 3 or 4 and
then drops off with subsequent iterations. I have heard people refer to certain parts
of this life cycle in amusing ways… but this is the best description of
the whole life cycle:

Version One:  What the heck is this supposed to be? …
Version Two: Not that functional, but covers the basics of what is required…
Version Three:  Does what is required, and does it well… 
Version Four: Baroque Inclusion Stage Reached…
Version Five:  Architectural Fatigue provokes revolution…

In my experience some of the very best software refines its feature list over time.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 19th, 2005 at 8:51 pm and is filed under Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.