RE: Standards and Egos (was RE: ILE Propaganda)

But even trivial decisions can save a ton of time in the end and can be
considered a tool.  If I code completely different than what everybody else
is used to and then they have to come and modify my program, they are going
to have a heck of a lot of time to put into that program.  Especially if
they are used to all of the indicators being different and naming
conventions are different.

Aaron Bartell

-----Original Message-----
From: Buck Calabro [mailto:Buck.Calabro@commsoft.net]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2001 2:39 PM
To: RPG400-L@midrange.com
Subject: RE: Standards and Egos (was RE: ILE Propoganda)


>Why should a construction worker not use a
>compound miter box because the rest of his 
>team decided it was not a standard tool to use?  
>Should he be made to always use a circular saw?

No, but if I decide to put my studs 16 inches on centre and he decides that
he prefers 12 or 20...

The main thing that I try to consider when I hear "should we make this a
standard?" is "is this a fairly trivial decision that really should be made
once and then followed for a long time?"  Examples of trivial decisions:
o What indicator to assign to the Help key
o Do we name work/copy variables wrkCustName or custNameWrk?
o Do we pass "return" parameters first in the list or last 
   (inpCustNumber: outCustName: outCustCity) vs.
   (outCustName: outCustCity: inpCustName)

Important decisions that don't readily fall under an "everybody do this"
dictum:
o What programming language to use
o How many lines of code are allowed in a procedure
o How far to normalise the database

I would _never_ insist that people on my team (if I ever get one...) use the
same editor or typing techniques or brainstorming methodology or...  They
can and should be encouraged to do the Real Work the way they want.  They
simply shouldn't think that assigning a specific indicator is Real Work.

Buck 
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