Re: Manifesto for Agile Software Maintenance

--- "Ged Byrne" <gedb-JAuqNdr32XA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think that there should be a Manifesto for Agile Software
> Maintenance.  This could offer a practical route into large
> organisations for agile methods.

You've come to the right place. Dave Thomas wrote: "All programming is 
maintenance 
programming, because you are rarely writing original code." See "Orthogonality 
and the 
DRY Principle" here:

http://www.artima.com/intv/dry.html

I also prefer maintenance programming over new development. Maintenance 
programming 
lets you focus on solving specific problems and refactoring/rewriting code that 
is at least 
somewhat understood by the user. New development projects almost always get 
bogged 
down in the requirements - specification - meeting loop, or in arguments within 
the team 
about exception hierarchies and whether triggers or evil or not, or something 
like that.

Explaining and deciding usability or technical issues with a non-technical 
client gets 
tedious very fast. But when you're fixing something they are already dependent 
on, and 
you can deliver results, they are always pleased, and they usually don't care 
to know the 
details. And I've yet to come across a non-trivial software application 
(including my own) 
that I can't improve in some way that a client will find valuable.

More mercenary reasons for my preference are that I'm usually left alone to fix 
or maintain 
code, and as long as the code gets more stable and useful over time the 
customer is 
happy. And it's much easier to charge by the hour when you're maintaining code 
someone 
else wrote. As a consultant/contractor clients usually want a fixed-fee bid for 
new 
projects, but have no problem with open-ended hourly work to fix their deployed 
applications. Asking a new client to risk a couple of thousand dollars at 
$100/hr while you 
fix a broken database or slow application is a lot safer for both parties than 
a big 
expensive new development project.

I have had done quite a few big projects that started out as bug fixes or 
performance 
improvement, or upgrades to new hardware. The clients get ridiculous bids for a 
complete 
replacement, which they can't afford, so they instead decide to work on what 
they have. 
Instead of getting the $10,000 project up front I get it in regular 
installments over time.

I think agile techniques fit into maintenance work nicely, and the techniques 
are an easier 
sell to a client looking for pain relief. Selling a client on source code 
control is much easier 
after they've experienced the pain of not having a system in place, for example.

And there's a lot more work out there if you're willing to wade through the 
muck.

Greg Jorgensen
PDXperts LLC - Portland, Oregon USA




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