mike.mainguy

Face it, we've all been there...you're asked for an "estimate" that you KNOW you're going to be held to, but there are a hundred variables you have no way to control. The client is sitting at the other end of the table tapping their fingers and you think to yourself either: #1 "they don't understand, it's unreasonable, I don't have enough information", or #2 "Hmmmm, how much do I think based on my current information it might take?". At the end of the day, neither of those matter beyond the psychological value they have for yourself...the real question that matters is "how much is it worth to them for you to deliver this?". Yes, if you're billing time and materials, there are practical problems: If you estimate too low, your client is going to be disappointed that you couldn't deliver in the agreed to cost/time...if you estimate too high, you client might be happy, but often they also think that you cut some ...

A common question I get asked is "How do I make architectural decisions?" and my standard answer is "it depends". While it's a tongue in cheek answer, there is a bit of truth to it. While there are frameworks and methodologies to try and reign this problem in, the reality is that the practice of "software architecture" is inherently a mess and certainly a wicked problem . That having been said, I'll give some insight into "how I do it". First off, let me say, often many "decisions" are predetermined by your primary objective or have such a strong force behind them that there is little value in contemplating alternative solutions. A good example would be "which programming language should I use to develop an Android application?". You really have one decision and it's pretty binary: "Do I use java or javascript?" Yes, from a technical perspective it's possible to use ANY programming language (...