Quote:
Originally Posted by grumpy
most people looking for programmers have no idea about the work to be done and most of them are not capable of putting the minimum requirements on paper.
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That is true, I do believe it is a shared obligation for the programmer and their customer to properly spec out the system before starting development or accepting the job. If working on a per hour basis doing the actual specs may be part of the job.
This is probably also the reason why system design and analysis plays a major role into system development / programming education. In other words any programmer who accept a job to do a certain task should know their own limitations and anyone who is hire-ring people to do a certain job should know what their goal is.
Projects fail either because the programmer is not diligent about what they need to create or the person who hire them may change their mind multiple times on the way. Be open about what you know and what you don't know.
I'd recommend anyone to have a project manager on the job if they are not experienced with working with programmers, if its not an option then pay someone to write a fact / spec sheet. Speaking programming english is different than speaking english english
Many times it can be done for less than $500 based on the size of the projects, it could be beneficial to have this written in India or the Philippines due to the amount of details they would typically spec out for you. Keep in mind that taking the cheapest option will usually cost you the most. If you shortcut developers they will shortcut you
This is based on my own experience I've gathered over the years from both small and larger projects.