Re: Task-based vs. System-Based Procedures

["Anthony Markatos" <tonymar -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

Anthony Markatos wrote:

Make no mistake about it, in good systems analysis/design, the developer's 
perspective is EXACTLY the same as the end-user's perspective.

Sandy Harris responded:

Methinks you're making a mistake there. The architect's perspective must 
/include/ the user's...... But it is nothing like /identical/ to the user's 
view, as you seem to suggest. It also includes a lot else, resource 
constraints being the most obvious example.

Tony Markatos responds:

Analysts and designers need to have the exact same perspective (view) of the 
system as does the end-users.  But, as I mentioned, because of things like 
technological imperfections (of which resource constraints is a good 
example) users often can not get everything that they want.
Tony Markatos said:

In the ideal, one software module (and it's associated procedures) 
accomplishes one end-user task. ... the overriding principle in design
is that there should be a one-to-one correlation between essential module 
and end-user task.

Sandy Harris said:

Nonsense. Consider Kernighan's (or Pike? Some Unix guru, anyway) claim that 
the surest test of good software design is that it works even when the user 
thinks up some application that the designer never dreamed of.

Tony Markatos responds:

Software is designed to fullfill end-user requirements.  If somebody, after 
its release, thinks of a new way of using it - so what?

Tony Markatos
(tonymar -at- hotmail -dot- com)




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