I just started working with a new client in Port Charlotte. They have had a website built by a company in Tampa and how now parted company with that company, so to speak. So I pick up this system and start to go through the coding and it’s build etc, trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible. But something is not right. It’s a struggle, confusing, big, messy. I don’t know why…
 Well I eventually figure out that this website system, asp.net code, classes and modules, forms, and by golly the database and stored procedures have, for the most part be generated by a …. MACHINE! ARGHHHH.
Yes, thats right, the original developers are working with a software tool that allows them to work in plain english (I guess) with a client to spec out the system. They do their high level analysis etc, enter data into the software, press a button and voila! Here is your website sir!
This doesn’t include the design of the site aesthetically, the way it looks etc, which is actually quite nice…
So, what’s my point. Here it is… A machine generated system (i’m going back to database design days years ago when I used software tools to design databases) tends to be broken down into a very low level. What I mean by that is the mathematics and algorithms that do the analysis and create the design tend to go WAY TOO FAR! This means that you end up with a system that is very complex. It explains one reason why my new client decided to jump ship from the pervious developer. The initial development costs where quite low compared to the cost of ongoing development and support. The original developer ended up in the same position as I did. After producing the system with a software tool, they were left looking at it, pondering its complexity and wondering how it all works exaclty.
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