Re: What Are Writing Skills?

[Tony Markos <ajmarkos -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

--- Tom Johnson <tjohnson -at- freeway -dot- net> wrote:

> 
> Tony, the DFD, Evangelist Pronounceth:

Tony Markos responds:

I like it better with thunder.  Try this:  Tony, the
DFD, Evangelist Pronounceth [insert clap of Thunder
here].....

Anyways, Tom you raise an excellent question: If Data
Flow Diagrams are so great, why are relatively few
using them?   While an experienced DFD'r can run
circles around a small army of competing analysts
using Use Cases, any of the UML tools, Hierarchical
task analysis techniques, etc there are some
difficulties with them:

  *  DFDs, like nothing else, make "holes" in one
understanding of a system glaringly obvious. While the
plus of this is that the analyst can rapidly learn the
essentials of the system, often people shy away from
having "holes" in there understanding being made
glaringly obvious.

 *  Properly used DFDs, again like nothing else,
require the analyst take as top down an approach as
possible.  The problem here is twofold:

   - Many people feel very uncomfortable with a top
down approach.  It is psychologically much more
comforting being grounded in the details.

   -  Preceding in a top down fashion requires
postponing the details to the appropriate time. 
(Please note, I say postponing - not forgetting.)
Postponing consideration of detail can be dangerous. 
Example: I once had a very bottom-up (i.e., get into
the details ASAP) boss who though "Tony has been doing
analysis for two weeks and still does not know detail
X.  I learned detail X during my second day;
therefore, Tony must be goofing off or is lost."

Tony Markos

It is only by dying (i.e., following the flow of data)
that we are born again (i.e., come to have an
understanding of the underlying logic of a system) -
AJ Markos

>
> Tom Johnson says:
> 
> > Seriously, why haven't other people started
beating
> this [DFD] drum? After 
> hearing this mantra eight or a dozen times, is
> anyone trying it. .... If it is so great, why
> so much 
> advertising? Doesn't the product speak for itself?



		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free! 
http://my.yahoo.com 
 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo:
http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 7.5 Professional: New version with new features, improved performance and reliability, plus much more!  Download your free trial today at www.componentone.com/techwrlfeb.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.