Re: GUI vs Hand, Was: estimating the cost of building a web site

[John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> >"In light of the capabilities of some GUI web-authoring
> >programs, it is no longer fiscally responsible to code web
> pages
> >by hand anymore."
> 
> My Statement:
> "In light of widely varying capabilities in web-related tools,
> it is not
> fiscally responsible to exclude any method of coding web pages
> which is
> efficient given the results."

That's a different statement...not a variation on the one I
proposed.

> 
> Given a powerful text editor with extensive macros, keystroke
> bindings,
> syntax highlighting and an expandable snippet library (my
> current setup for
> web work), I can "hand-code" my way to exact results just as
> or more quickly
> than many users of GUI web-authoring tools. I started out
> hand-coding HTML
> when there weren't really any WYSIWYG editors (circa 1994). I
> continue to
> use this method (with timesaving macros added) because it
> gives me precise
> control at pretty much the same pace as default control in a
> WYSIWYG
> program. I use the same setup for PHP/MySQL web programming.
> Most of the
> good web-programmers I know (including those who use Interdev)
> use text
> editors or the text mode of their IDE's.

But how long does it take to customize your setup for a new
environment? Can you walk up to a new machine, in a new company,
with a new structure, and with your macros, bindings, and
customizations, produce a new style of web site that you haven't
seen before, based on the client's styles and formats?
Productivity is the whole process, end to end...not 2 days to do
a site but 3 days to setup the tools.

> >1) They may produce bloated code.
> >However, in light of higher speed access and cheaper storage,
> >does 1k or so matter anymore.
> 
> To me it's not the download speed or storage that's a problem,
> but
> maintainability and readibility. If you need to go into the
> HTML itself to
> fix something, clearly coded, well-indented HTML beats
> Frontpage, MS Word,
> and most other non-text editor output hands down to find and
> fix problems in
> layout as well as for updating.

I haven't found that. What I have found is if you are
comfortable with making your way through a particular code
structure, it is harder to work your way through another code
structure until you become familiar with it. I'm sure that I can
find a point in the code faster in code that I'm accustomed to
than I can in yours, and vice versa. it'a all that you are
familiar with. 

> The same arguement could be made for cheap tech-writers that
> crank out
> sloppy manuals and help systems. However, TW's on this list
> typically
> lambast those writers as a drain on the industry. After all at
> $50 per hour
> for a tech writer, would a customer or employer rather have 1
> or 2 help
> topics per hour of sloppy writing or 1 or 2 topics per day of

Much of what you pay for with a high-priced writer is the
assurance that no matter what, it will get done on deadline.
Clean or sloppy, a less experienced writer will miss the
deadline more times than not because they cannot see the end
while at the beginning, and therefore, don't know all the
obstacles that will jump out and bite them on the butt.  Missed
deadlines...that the client CAN recognize.

=====
John Posada
jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com
john -at- tdandw -dot- com
732-291-7811
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
     Benjamin Franklin

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