more about programming style

[M. Cain]

>                                                     Ok, now let's say I
> have a problem that I want solved by a programmer.  The programmer comes
> back to me with a program which doesn't do quite what I wanted.  Now
> from the comments it looks like the program should work right.  The
> problem is in the code.  Now the programmer goes off and tries to fix
> it, thinking he knows exactly what I want.  But when he comes back with
> the revised program, it still doesn't do what I wanted.

   On a slight tangent (the above was written in regard to the use of
language idioms and readibility), why doesn't the program do quite what
was wanted?  Were the requirements wrong?  Incomplete?  Does the
programmer just do sloppy work?  In a way, I am reminded of the old
answer to the question "When will the programmers deliver code on
time and within budget?" -- when the requirements are complete and
don't change midway through the project!

Michael Cain
Bell Communications Research
..!bellcore!python!michael