Scott Ambler explains that there are no universal rules; excerpt from in the latest newsletter from Software Development Magazine, 19-01-2005.
The IT community operates on a fundamental assumption of
software development "best practices," demanding that we use
them on all projects. For example, model reviews, detailed
requirements documents, change control boards (CCBs) and
pair programming are typically referred to as best practices.
But reality reveals that one size does not fit all: I believe that
these are actually contextual practices that work in some
situations, but not others -- there's really no such thing as "best
practices."
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