front and back-end web development, Leeds, UK
Richard's Blog - Design, coding and life in Japan
Meeting with the big guys! (Hitachi Systems)
Submitted by Richard on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 13:48With one of the contract clients I am working, I am dealing with a large lighting company called Daiko, we are going to put in place a stock availability function into our website to connect with Daiko's inventory data. It turns out Hitachi Systems are doing all of he system engineering for Daiko, Hitachi Systems are one of the largest software companies in Japan.
Yesterday we had a posh board room meeting to discuss the system. It is amazing the meticulous effort these guys take to make sure there are no bugs in a system. Wanting to take a few pointers from real professionals I thought I would keep my eyes open.
One of the pointers I got I am taking action on today...
Documentation
The outline that was given was already prepared in a 20 page booklet showing each individual field and table which are religiously honored. Flow charts showing exactly what the software does.
I was thinking my own cucumber tests would do the job of telling the story, but I learned from this that for all in company I am contracting for I need to create clear documentation so that all can see what I am doing and how I am doing it. It's a pain yes, it could be a waste of time since it won't make making the product much faster, but when working on a relatively complicated API such as that I am working on now, I believe it will help all understand the value of the job and the direction it is taking!
It also gives me a refreshing break from looking at code!
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