This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Michael Cote. Original Post: Outsourcing API Design? Or, ���Man���s Head on Dog���s Body��� from PeopleOverProcess.com Feed Title: Cote's Weblog: Coding, Austin, etc. Feed URL: https://cote.io/feed/ Feed Description: Using Java to get to the ideal state. Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Michael Cote Latest Posts From Cote's Weblog: Coding, Austin, etc.

Jame’s post on WebLogic and Spring yesterday made me wonder how wide the practice of bringing in an outside API designer is in software. That is, by way of analogy, Apple and IDEO are always working together on design elements: my understanding is that Apple doesn’t in-house all of it’s industrial design, though it may get the credit for it.

Now, my inner code-monkey is already saying those eternal words, “yeah, but software is different, ya man-headed dog.” How could an outsider ever parachute in a “fix up” and API? All the in-house coders and architects surely know better!

Now, pining myself down, in the WebLogic/JEE/Spring case in particular, I’d want to bring in an outside API designer to work on the usability of an API: to make it pretty. That aspect has always been a hard one to deliver to on, and I’d posit that frameworks like Spring and Hibernate were successful because they were usable compared to what others provided, in addition to being open source, having community momentum, and being free.

So, then: is there a place in software design for the API usability consultant? Wouldn’t you like to get the Spring minds to come “fix up” your hoary APIs?

Side-note: check out the excellent, third definition of “hoary,” “tedious from familiarity; stale”…that sounds like every coders feel for The Code after a few releases, and the source of good project managers worst nightmares: “we gotta get Rails in there! (It’s so cool!)”

Technorati Tags: usability, weblogic, spring, design, api

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