Editor's//Comment

New Year's Resolutions

By EldenNelson

I'd liketo make a confession. This year, there've been times when I've been ... weak.I've taken the easy way out, instead of doing the right thing. I've ... I've ...I've developed a Web site using PHP and MySQL.

Why?Well, it was a freebie site, and I'd used PHP many times to do the kinds ofthings this guy wanted (ASP.NET hasn't been around forever, after all). So Ijust leveraged existing code and knocked the project out as fast as I could. Noharm in that, right?

Well, Isuppose not. But I've noticed that it's when doing "freebie" sites that I learnthe most - because the client is in no position to complain and there are fewerspecs and time constraints, I can experiment a little and learn a lot. Bywalking old paths with old technologies, though, I learn nothing.

Sohere's my resolution for this year: I'm going to do everything inASP.NET, even the easy stuff I've done other ways for years. For me, at least,that's the best way to learn.

Of course,I'm not the only one making new year's resolutions. I recently asked a numberof respected asp.netPRO developers and authors what they've donethis year that they're going to change for next year. Here are a few of theirresponses.

Dan Wahlin

WhatI did: I startedwhat I thought was a small development project based on an idea I had. I threwtogether a database (tables, stored procs, etc.), some C# classes, and a fewWeb pages. As I finished one item on the project, I'd get excited and add a fewmore "features" into the product. I continued this process until I realized theproject scope was much bigger than I originally estimated. I wasn't happy withthe architecture, so I went back to fix some normalization issues in thedatabase as a result of the project growth. This, of course, changed my datalayer because the stored procs changed, which broke my business andpresentation layers. Because of my poor planning in the initial stages, monthshave passed and I still haven't finished the project.

Whyit's bad: Lack ofplanning, even on small development projects, can lead to a lot of wasted timeas the project continues. Fortunately, this wasn't for a client (which is partof the reason I didn't spend the normal time planning the architecture), butthe amount of time I've wasted is definitely not a good thing.

Myresolution: Nomatter how small a project might seem, I'm going to take the time to plan theproject's architecture in detail.

Brian Noyes

WhatI did: I assumed Iknew enough about an install procedure for a server product to just wing it andnot go through the install procedure checklist. The installation went great,and I was done in a flash.

Whatwent wrong: I keptgetting weird behaviors. After banging my head against the wall for a couple ofdays, I decided to admit that it was possible I had missed something inthe install. I went back, reviewed the steps, and - d'oh! - there it was: SQLServer SP2 required. How could I have forgotten that? The same way I haveforgotten similar install steps numerous times before.

Myresolution: Fromnow on, I'll "waste" the extra 15 minutes to follow through the install manualinstead of guessing what the problem is downstream.

Bill Wagner

WhatI did: I once wasworking on a game aimed at the 3- to 8-year-old set. The game had a series ofactivities and a navigation screen that children would use to go to theirfavorite screen. We developers wanted an easy way for children to go from thecurrent screen to the main screen. We chose the "obvious" answer: Press thespace bar.

Whyit's bad: Severalof the younger children pressed the space bar accidentally. And repeatedly. Youcan just imagine their frustration when they were busy playing a game and itsuddenly exited and brought them back to the introduction.

Myresolution: I'llremember that users view our programs and designs through different eyes thanwe do. To build better programs, listen to your users. Carefully listen to yourusers. Even when you think you have listened to them repeatedly, listen more.

Any ofthese resolutions sound familiar? What's your development resolution for2003? Let me know at mailto:elden@aspnetPRO.com.

Elden Nelson is editor-in-chief of asp.netPRO and itscompanion newsletter, asp.netNOW.

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