So I’ve finished my requirements specification for the new product that I can’t discuss. It was a real learning experience for me.
The thing came in at 34 pages and 10,091 words. It took exactly a week to prepare, but I think it faithfully reflects my vision so it was time well spent. I even tried to inject a little humor in places, but nothing that would particularly diminish the seriousness of the document.
[UPDATE: Now I’m supposed to do a data design for the product. I’m surprised how easy it is in Visio 2003; I really had never used that program before for much more than flowcharting. From the extent to which it is aware of database models, I’m guessing that it can create the tables for you once you’re satisfied with the entities and relationships. I’ve sketched out 20 tables so far and now I’m fleshing them out in Visio. I think I’m staying generally in 2NF with occasional forays into 3NF where it’s useful. I’m also realizing the limits of my data design skills.]
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