NYCPHP Meetup

[Mitch Pirtle]

I think the biggest pain most of us face is that web development is
always of the oh-my-god-we-are-all-going-to-die-if-we-dont-launch-freaking-TOMORROW
variety of projects. If a client ever came to me and said "You know
Mitch, take your time on this one, I'd really like to see it done
right" I would die of a heart attack right on the spot. That or
immediately search for the hidden cameras, fully expecting to be on
Punked or something like that.

Regardless, one thing I've been into for a while is test driven
development, which although does slow down the development process
somewhat, also accelerates the test and debugging process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development

It *is* possible to incorporate some sort of testing into the
development cycle, which is required when you start working on bigger,
more complex systems. Plus taking the TDD approach really forces you
(and your client) to fully understand just what it is that you need to
code, before you start coding. Project killing things like scope creep
then becomes a conscious act instead of a forced, constant and
unavoidable burden.

-- Mitch