November 2002
Intermediate to advanced
240 pages
5h 9m
English
Early one Friday, the boss came to Ward Cunningham to introduce him to Peter, a prospective customer for WyCash, the bond portfolio management system the company was selling. Peter said, “I’m very impressed with the functionality I see. However, I notice you only handle U.S. dollar denominated bonds. I’m starting a new bond fund, and my strategy requires that I handle bonds in different currencies.” The boss turned to Ward, “Well, can we do it?”
Here is the nightmarish scenario for any software designer. You were cruising along happily and successfully with a set of assumptions. Suddenly, everything changed. And the nightmare wasn’t just for Ward. The boss, an experienced hand at directing software development, wasn’t sure what ...