Give me the problem, I’ll figure out a solution and build a program for you. What do I need a team for? Especially, when I’m the best. Those others just slow me down.
Even if true (the “best” part) you are dead wrong. Why? Is a team really needed? (yes, O Great One!)
Except for trivial or simple one-off programs, there is typically, so much code that it is almost impossible to “see” it all in your mind. I always used the word, “invisible”. AND, know that any, even the most trivial mistake will cause the program to fail.
Remember the famous line, “A computer can make more mistakes in 10 seconds than 1000 accountants can make in 10 years.” Quality control is critically important. I can’t emphasize that enough. That’s why a clean design and code that everyone understands is important.
And then there is testing: Building a program that is easy to test takes skill, and yes, adherence to standards. I test your code, you test mine. It’s an iterative process, and you’ll find that the best builders are seldom the best testers. The whole process is just too complicated for any single individual.
A few years ago, I was approached by a very smart programmer who wanted to sell us an extremely complicated program. He was a “one-man-band” and had spent a year building it. We had a piece of software that took any program and scanned for inconsistencies. On the initial scan, it found some 150 errors. We pointed them out and he (a bit chagrined) said that he’d fix them. He came back in a few days. We ran it again and found over 200 errors. He tried once more but it kept getting worse. Counterintuitive?
Lesson: When you fix a piece of code there is a big chance that you will commit new errors that you don’t know about. Again, think; “Invisible”. One-Man-Bands just won’t work. You need teams and standards — else you are toast.
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