Hi,

Have you ever felt like you were a dog chasing it’s tail when programming? One of the main things I have learned from creating Flex applications is create and destroy.

Creation ::

You create a plan on paper and map out what happens to who and where. Then you go to implement it and you start getting creative. You find easier ways to do things and end up having some extra classes, events that dispatch a little different then intended and methods that abstract and encapsulate even better.

How do we now test what we did not imply?

Destroying ::

This is my favorite part of the iterative process. When you create applications, the best way to make them better is by destroying the very art you sought after.

What do I mean, well I am sure some of you know that by breaking apart an application and purposely killing it, you find it’s weaknesses and fix them.

To the beginner, you strive for perfection, which through experience you will never get with software. What I strive for is near perfection. Through years of painstaking meticulous actions, I have learned to let go and kick the table hard to see if the cards fall down. If, they don’t your good to go.

Sometimes this process can be more methodical than I make it out to be. But, to those wondering if snapping an application in half for the fun of it is healthy, I recommend doing it.

Yes, there is UnitTests and other things. Sometimes we don’t have these tools and good ole remolding of the clay is a perfect solution for any doubts you may have about a ‘finished’ product.

Peace, Mike

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 6:07 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.