My Estimates Have Gotten Worse
Tuesday, 17. March 2009, 18:03:40
I'm now into the third chapter of Clean Code, and I am already starting to use what I learn in practice.
The book is showing me a new level to reach; it's pretty high but looks doable. Using the words of the software craftsmen, it is raising the bar.
But, as with all newly gained knowledge, its use is not automatic. I am expending a noticably greater amount of brain cycles to keep the quality of my code up at this new level.
This is, noticably, affecting my productivety, as understood as the rate at which I get stuff done. I don't have any hard numbers on this because of my failure to formalize my estimates (I know, I know... many bad excuses goes here).
So, while I'd like to think that the quality of the code I'm producing is higher, I am also taking longer to produce it. This means that previous experiences about how long things take have grown increasingly inaccurate. And due to lack of retrospectives and formalism in my estimation process, this growth has been without control.
I am not saying that I'm now suddenly catastrophically bad at estimating how long things take, just that the growth has been uncontrolled. I will assert that as this new knowledge moves from the frontal lobe to the spine, my estimates will steadily return to normal (unless I start to actively improve them, in which case they will become better).
This movement of knowledge is also known by the name "experience," and the only way to atain it is through practice.
Considering this, all I can do is to keep at it and improve, but remember to keep a close eye on the schedule, and try to add in the extra overhead whenever I estimate.
The book is showing me a new level to reach; it's pretty high but looks doable. Using the words of the software craftsmen, it is raising the bar.
But, as with all newly gained knowledge, its use is not automatic. I am expending a noticably greater amount of brain cycles to keep the quality of my code up at this new level.
This is, noticably, affecting my productivety, as understood as the rate at which I get stuff done. I don't have any hard numbers on this because of my failure to formalize my estimates (I know, I know... many bad excuses goes here).
So, while I'd like to think that the quality of the code I'm producing is higher, I am also taking longer to produce it. This means that previous experiences about how long things take have grown increasingly inaccurate. And due to lack of retrospectives and formalism in my estimation process, this growth has been without control.
I am not saying that I'm now suddenly catastrophically bad at estimating how long things take, just that the growth has been uncontrolled. I will assert that as this new knowledge moves from the frontal lobe to the spine, my estimates will steadily return to normal (unless I start to actively improve them, in which case they will become better).
This movement of knowledge is also known by the name "experience," and the only way to atain it is through practice.
Considering this, all I can do is to keep at it and improve, but remember to keep a close eye on the schedule, and try to add in the extra overhead whenever I estimate.
WIDGETIZE