Developers are killing software

PROGRAMMERS are writing bad code because they do not think like users, according to the author of a new book "Why Software Sucks ... And What You Can Do About It."

Consultant David Platt says that software developers tend to write code for themselves. But the problem is that they are a different species of humanity from users. He said that developers like control, while users want something that's easy to operate.

Apparently software developers are more likely to buy a car with a manual transmissions when most Americans like automatic gearboxes.

In an interview with Reuters, Platt said that one of his pet peeves is when a text-editing program like Microsoft Word asks users if they want to save their work before they close their document.

A better question would be would you like to throw away everything you've just done, he thinks.

Such programming questions are a bit like your car asking you if you want to start the engine when you turn the key.

He said that the confirmation box has become so overused that no one pays any attention to it, even when it's warning about a document that should be kept. Error messages that give you no recourse other than hitting an OK button also miff Platt. He said that it is not OK with him that operations don't work and the program can't explain why.

There is more, here. µ