The Volcanic Software Development Life Cycle
Some people believe volcanic eruptions are caused by fate. Others believe a volcanic eruption is a sign that a mountain is upset because nearby residents have angered the gods..
Maybe there are Software Gods that regulate when new releases are issued and what is in them.
Using this approach to software development, the customer or stakeholder sees that something happens underground inside invisible chambers. At periodic but unpredictable times, the volcano blows out a new software release. Sometimes it’s scalding hot destroying all living things in its wake, and sometimes there is a lot of stuff spewed out, but one never knows.
Below, in the magma chamber, is forbidding territory to the customer. The customer should not have to venture into this dangerous area to figure out when and what the next eruption will be. If the volcano is a well-behaved black box volcano, everything is fine and good. But someone, somewhere has to see inside. To someone somewhere, the black box has to be a transparent white box. It’s never a good sign when the software author (a.k.a. the coder or programmer) can’t figure out what’s going on inside the black box.
This is a widely practiced but not recommended approach to software development. It’s better to use one of the more orthodox methodologies. They are faster and cheaper, and as a by-product produce a reasonable level of sometimes useful documentation.
