I don't normally get into debates, but I have to put in my two cents for
what it's worth based on the comment:
"I won't try to make excuses for soft code, but I will say that time
constraints placed on projects significantly limit the developer's ability
to "harden" their applications. These common pressures result in immature
code that is prone to failure. (This is, of course, an issue for
management to address...)"
If I as a developer allowed code to be put in place that allowed failure,
I'd have my a$$ handed to me by my fellow developers, not to mention
management. I for one cannot, for any reason, see any excuse for an
application that is not buttoned down completely. Time constraints or
otherwise, I think it is foolhardy to release an application that is not
ready. It is better to be late and have a solid product, than to be on
time with a buggy one. How many of us have complained about Microswift
and there buggy code. And as far as time constraints go... that is the
fault of either the PM or the developer for either not giving themselves a
proper timeline, or allowing the project scope to be changed too much
without adding extra time. I don't buy the whole "we didn't have time to
test it" bit. Thus, if the application is developed correctly, you
shouldn't have issues with the data. Now the only way the data can be
messed up is through another source, such as directly accessing it.
So, what Joe says is correct, if you can't control the data going in and
coming out of the database, and have security around the database setup so
that end users can't DFU data, then the database is doomed. If you let
users DFU the data, or delete or insert records that cannot be verified
thru the application, then you are doomed to have application issues when
the data is extracted and used.
Of course, this is only my opinion....
Ron Power
Programmer
Information Services
City Of St. John's, NL
P.O. Box 908
St. John's, NL
A1C 5M2
709-576-8132
rpower@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.stjohns.ca/
midrange.com
