Practice · 1990–now · Object Wave

Big Design Up Front

Spec first, code later. Agile didn't kill planning — it killed pretending the Gantt chart was reality.

How Big Design Up Front mutated

Big design upfront fails when requirements lie and markets move faster than review boards. It mutated into iterative delivery because shipping beats perfect specs. Planning still exists — the fad was believing the first document was destiny.

Case studies

1990–1999

Object Wave

Part of the Object Wave era (1990–1999).

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