George Hadjiyiannis

The shortcomings of Agile

It's about time we have had an honest discussion about what Agile does not do well.

September 6, 2019 George Hadjiyiannis

13 minutes read

In a previous post I promised to write an article about the shortcomings of Agile. I recently had an exchange with a former colleague that convinced me the time has come to have an honest discussion about what Agile does not do well. Through the years, Agile seems to have acquired a cult status, where people seem to think that it can, not only, do everything, but do it superlatively well. Anyone who has actually used Agile methodologies knows that neither of those points are true, yet Agile…

The case for explicit data schemas

The data schema is important to more than just your current notion of your application. It may be worth designing the schema explicitly.

August 28, 2019 George Hadjiyiannis

9 minutes read

The software development Zeitgeist seems to be pointing away from the necessity of having explicit data schemas. Nowadays, designing a database schema, or even just an ER diagram, seems to be downright old-fashioned, and an activity that is viewed more as a burden or a restriction, rather than something of value. At the risk of being labeled a contrarian, I would like to make the case in favor of explicitly designing data schemas.

Understanding the cost of software

Software is expensive. The only way to succeed is to understand the cost structure, and trade-offs involved.

August 21, 2019 George Hadjiyiannis

25 minutes read

The standard cliché in our industry is that software projects always take twice as long, and cost twice as much. Of the two factors, however, it's the financial one that does the most damage. Usually, timing does little damage in itself, other than making a company run out of money.