Ricky & Stick - It Can't Hurt to Rethink the Requirements
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Sometimes requirements that don't make any sense creep into a program. Usually, no one knows where they came from, nor why they're there. They may be based on misunderstandings, or on conditions that have become obsolete. Or maybe they were just a nasty gift from the Bad Requirements Demon. In any case, these are often the very requirements that twist a program into a pretzel.
So it's perfectly reasonable to periodically reconsider the validity of requirements, either to be sure that they're still operative, or to verify that their respective interpretations by the builder and end user is consistent: it's amazing how often such a reinspection will turn up a surprise or two. It may seem obvious, for instance, that Ricky's notion of front steps for a doghouse was based on a misreading of the plans. But Ricky wasn't being any sillier than many real-world counterparts: some software requirements specs have sternly dictated versions of COTS products that are several releases out of date, and more than a few requirements have been diametrically opposite to what the end user has requested.
Bottom line: A periodic review of the requirements asking: "Do each of these still apply? Has anything changed?" is a valuable exercise that can help discover obsolete requirements as early as possible. By doing so, you'll avoid expending (and wasting) a huge amount of effort in needlessly trying to meet them.
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