Babies With Great Personality

Yesterday I was speaking with a fellow engineer about the state of our new user interface implementation. We’d crossed a major functionality threshold, but there were still several obvious bugs. I argued that the significance of the functions that were working merited deploying to our integration server for others to see, but he resisted saying that he’d rather wait until a couple of the blatant problems were ironed out.

The above is a common conundrum for developers. Put your work out there for others to see too soon, and they’ll be quick to point out all the flaws. Wait too long, and managers start breathing down your neck because they’re not seeing tangible results.

Personally, I think the wise manager understands the idea of a work in progress, and should appreciate seeing said progress without getting overly critical of early blemishes. It’s a bit like posting photos of a newborn baby. Obviously everyone loves their little nugget, but reality is most newborns aren’t super cute in their first couple of days. But would anyone ever dare point that out to proud parents? Let’s surely hope not! The birth of a child is a momentous event to be celebrated; there’s plenty of time later for the kid to grow into his adorableness.

Likewise a software application. Publish early, and let that baby grow!