Software on Speculation

in theory yes, but the problem is is how do you stop someone copying it. If a builder builds a house on a plot of land, that's it. If you develop something that someone you know could use and demo it to them, unless you have some patented material there's noting to stop him saying, that's a great idea and developing it himself.

Tim

>

Without a spec, a Software Engineer cannot "build" a product as there would be nothing to verify it against. Actually the software engineer could build a product but it would be totally on risk & there would be dire possibility that rework would be needed. However a Software Engineer can build software components that provide "feature sets". Each feature could be unit tested and integrated with a harness that is built from other features, for, say, performance testing. This approach does require the skills of a domain expert to determine what features should be developed.

When a spec does arrive, then the features can be configured to meet the requirement. By this time the software engineer has already determined the prospective software architecture for the system. Also, by the time the spec arrives, it is probable that a lot of the protocols behind unit tests would have been created. If a feature requires optimisation, then this is view as refactoring, and the unit tests could be readily re-run.

Ken.

+====================================+ I hate junk email. Please direct any genuine email to: kenlee at hotpop.com

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 21:32:36 GMT, RickMerrill wrote: : As a builder builds a house without a buyer, can an : embedded software engineer "rationally" develop a former : customer's software on-speculation? - RM

Maybe, maybe not. What about the project sparked the question?

Thanks for the many responses here and via email. I am personally interested in solving the problem, but I think that the biggest advantage for any of us to do this is to convey the message to potential clients, "see, I'm already working for you!"

Rick Merrill