markh@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Mark William Hopkins) (05/21/88)
A parable for what Software Engineering should be.
--------------------------------------------------
Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away there lived a king who
had a raptorous daughter. It had been the king's desire to beclothe his
daughter in a gown fit to display her beauty, as such it required the finest and
most loving tayloring. It required a taylor with a highly developed sense of
beauty and symmetry.
So one day, the king summoned all the craftsmen in the kingdom. He
asked of each of them to carry out his desire to berobe his daughter in a
manner suitable to her lovliness.
"As the sun rises and sets each day you shall receive a thousand dukats
for your effort if you be the first to bring forth to me a suitable gown
for my daughter."
So all of the taylors set out to their task with haste. Of the
taylors in the kingdom, there were those who simply set out to fashion
this beautiful gown for the princess with no thought for what they were
doing. But each time one such craftsman approached the king with his finished
work the king would answer:
"How dare you mock the Princess with shabby rags not even fit to
beclothe an ox! I should have your head for this insult. Leave my palace!
Shall I see you again it WILL only be for your head!"
There were those craftsmen who in the zeal to fashion a gown fit for
a deity set out in elaborating each and every detail that could possibly
ever be realised. Each time one such taylor would come to the palace he would
approach the king with a scroll huge enough to choke the royal elephant. On
this scroll would be inscribed in the most beautiful penmanship the complete
specifications of every conceivable possibility along with verifications using
the ancient method of syllogisms.
"You expect my scribe to read this travesty? Your scroll is bigger than
the gown that I seek! Do you think me to be a wizard?, I would not even
expect our royal wizard to waste his precious time with your scribe's work.
Perhaps you are an outlyer not well versed in our ways, for by looking
at your document, my scribe tells me that the one who wrote it and dictated it
is not fully tutored in our tongue.
Leave my presence with this foolishness! In the effort you spent
inscribing this travesty, you should have been fashioning my daughter's
robe. You are not fit to do the king's task if you should rely on your
scribe to do your job."
Of all the craftsmen there was only one who had not approached the king
by this time. He was a modest and humble taylor who had never been seen or
heard of before. The king had been in the deepest despair as this person
approached the royal presence.
"Your majesty ... excuse me, I mean 'Your Majesty' ... I respectfully
submit to you the gown you had requested. As you can see, it is not yet
fully fashioned. I have left the remainder to be finished in such a way that
I could bring forth the royal desire and weave it into the gown. So I ask of
your royal presence to work with me in completing this beautiful clothing for
you daughter."
The king and the taylor discussed the remaining details together.
"If this be your intent then I decree it to be beautiful and fit for
my daughter. But there is one more thing I must know before I reward
you for your efforts: when shall the gown be complete?"
"As the sun rises tomorrow so shall the robe be as you desire. It
shall suit your daughter for years to come with only the smallest
of changes. Whatever changes be necessary to further satisfy your
daughter I shall make with no compensation requested from Your
Majesty."
The king accepted this promise with one proviso:
"Either you be a fool who desires ... excuse me, I mean 'desireth'
(I'm getting a little bit ahead of my time here) ... desireth servitude
for the rest of your life of you be the one taylor of the kingdom
who puts enough love into his work to suit the Princess. But hear my
words today: you shall be required henceforth to fashion all changes
that I and my successors decree necessary as long as you shall live."
The gown was finished as promised and it served the Princess for years with
the smallest of changes just as promised. The taylor was consequently rewarded
ten thousand dukats for his ten days of work.
The Princess was so thankful for her gift that she came to love the
craftsman who fashioned her gown. The two were brought together in marriage
in the most beautiful wedding the kingdom had ever seen and they lived ever
happily to their remaining days.chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) (05/21/88)
In article <5860@uwmcsd1.UUCP> markh@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Mark William Hopkins) writes: > Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away there lived a king who >had a raptorous daughter. % webster raptor rap.tor \'rap-t*r, -.to.(*)r\ n [deriv. of L raptor plunderer, fr. raptus] : a bird of prey She was like a bird of prey? :-) % webster rapture 1. rap.ture \'rap-ch*r\ \'rap-ch*-r*s, 'rap-shr*s\ n [L raptus] 1: a state or experience of being carried away by overwhelming emotion 2: an expression or manifestation of ecstasy or passion - rap.tur.ous aj 2. rapture vt : ENRAPTURE -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163) Domain: chris@mimsy.umd.edu Path: uunet!mimsy!chris
markh@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Mark William Hopkins) (05/21/88)
In article <11610@mimsy.UUCP> chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) writes: <POINTS OUT A SPELLING ERROR IN THE STORY IN THE PRIOR ARTICLE>: >In article <5860@uwmcsd1.UUCP> markh@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Mark >William Hopkins) writes: >> Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away there lived a king who >>had a raptorous daughter. ^^^^^^^^^ That's one. Now find the other (of is there another one?) ... I hope this misspelling did not significantly affect your comprehension. The story continues: Years later on the Royal Nighttime Talk Show, the Royal Johnny asked the Taylor (now the Prince) how he successfully designed and fabricated the Gown to suit the Princess for many years to come in only ten days. This is what he had to say: "I used Velcro for the secure attachment of the different parts of the Gown to the bodice, and Danskin for the bodice to ensure a nice, tight and flexible fit. All in all it was designed to adapt to the wear and tear and the changing needs of its wearer." "The rest of the design? ... oh well, I left that up to the King and his daughter. After all, who am I to second guess the needs of the user?"