Re:It's been a long time but.. (Score 3, Interesting)

That style of programming leads to unreadable and unmaintainable code. The problem is that, in many cases, the programmer that required reams of documentation in order to write the code also requires that documentation in order to read it. The system-level become inappropriate to the evironment and language being used since the design was done "in your head" instead of "in the code.

IMHO, detailed specs should only be done when there can be a GAURANTEE that it won't change for at least 2 years. The is is the usually the case with specs produced by groups like W3C, IETF, or the OMG, and a lot of programmers think they should copy the activities of these beauricratic organizations in their own work, where requirements can be expected to change continuously. In this environment, maintaining a detailed specification that is separate from the code is far too impractical. It's better that programmers make the code and the focus of their attention and make sure their code *deserves* to be the focus of attention (i.e. it's well written, elegant, easy on the eyes and mind, fun to take walks on the beach with, etc...).

-n00m