''If it doesn't fit, buy a bigger hammer.'' ''When in doubt, use brute force.'' - Ken Pittman ---- There's also: ''When all else fails, use brute force.'' ''When brute force fails, you aren't using enough.'' ---- Or: ''If it doesn't work, force it. If it breaks, then it obviously needed to be replaced anyway.'' ---- I once saw this in someone else's code: //Kludge it till it works...Grrrrr! referring to the next section of code below. Sometimes when stuck, nothing else works and you just need a SpikeSolution, this mindset can at least get a first draft, which can be ReFactor''''''ed later. Not that I am advocating kludges or lack of planning. But after trying all other DecisionRoutinesWhenStuck, KludgeItTillItWorks helps to start tame the problem. Just DoSomeThing instead of getting trapped by AnalysisParalysis. ---------- I know the feeling. It is one of fighting a battle in a war that has already been lost. ----- It worked for biology, assuming you have a lot of patience. (GodIsQuickerThanEvolution) ----- I once contracted on a system where they tested against testing/staging sub-systems and production sub-systems in odd unpredictable phases. I couldn't predict what production part and test part they'd match up on any day, and they wanted it to '''self-detect''' its production state based on the ever-changing environment it was in, so the code I added eventually looked something like: // section X If then // adjust criteria accordingly x = production_version_of_this_section() else x = testing_version_of_this_section() end if ... // section Y If then // adjust criteria accordingly y = production_version_of_this_section(x) else y = testing_version_of_this_section(x) end if ... // section Z If then // adjust criteria accordingly z = production_version_of_this_section(y) else z = testing_version_of_this_section(y) end if ... // section etc.. I feel sorry for the poor maintainer hired after I left. I felt bad about leaving such a mess, but did my best per circumstance. I would have lobbied for formal config flags, but the person I would be lobbying to had recently quit, and non-technical managers were all that were left. ---- CategoryStory