waterfall (was Re: REPOST: Re: Book "python programming patterns". anybody read this??)

[Terry Reedy]

Perhaps relevant to this discussion, from this morning's (Friday 2002
Jan 4) News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware, USA):

"Gov. Ruth Ann Miner has scraped plans for a computerized accounting
and purchasing system after four years of design costing $7.4
million."  The article goes on to note that the system would have cost
another $7 million to implement and $2 million a year to operate and
would be obsolete from the day delivered because of already planned
changes in the state's accounting procedures.

It strikes me (and the Governor) as scandelous that so-called
professionals would spend so much time endlessly designing and never
produce anything that worked and was useful.

Terry J. Reedy