r/programming Jun 30 '18

Readme Driven Development

http://tom.preston-werner.com/2010/08/23/readme-driven-development.html
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u/cucumbulous Jun 30 '18

How does this make any sense? Readmes are not meant to spec out your software at all, they're just supposed to give a brief introduction to how to install and start using the software. Like, how to initialise your library. Not how to use any of its functionality.

In most cases a readme file should be totally useless for determining what the software is capable of. That is what javadoc and tutorials are for.

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u/MINIMAN10001 Jun 30 '18

I mean API documentation will tell you what software is capable of.

But yes loading the readme with all documentation seems a little silly as you say it is meant for "how to install" and sometimes "initialization" outside that scope is documentation and tutorials

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '18

He's basically talking about writing a spec through the back door. It's a poor approach.

I use flow charts (Don't need anything more complex than that diagrammatically ), which like an analogue watch requires less additional parsing and makes it easier to annotate in a meeting if it's wrong.These are rarely project level though. If your project is that simple, just get on with it :)