Query about coding style

[Sandy H]

Hi
I was wondering if I can get some other Access developer's opinions on the
following.
I am currently working on an intermediate project where I have been given
most of the responsibility for coding. My project manager has a background
in C++ and VB programming and he has very different ideas to me about how
things should be done. He will draft up an outline of a function and then
ask me to code it. When I have finished coding, I pass it back to him where
he pretty much rewrites it using his own style (lots of classes, dynamic
arrays and coding that I find extremely complicated to read and understand).
To make matters worse, he doesn't always get his new code working and
expects me to get his code working which is quite difficult when I don't
really understand his code or way of thinking.

This is the first time I have encountered a developer in Access that I have
been unable to quickly understand and am thinking about terminating the
contract because I feel that our styles are just way too different. I am
keen to learn from others but believe that the project will suffer due to
our different styles.

What do others think? Should I be making every effort to learn and adapt to
his style or is it fair to say that some coders are just too different to
work alongside?

Thanks in advance
Sam

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Sam

<<opinion based on personal experience only>>

The event-oriented model that Access presents may be at odds with a
full-blown OO development model. I've not seen a lot of points-of-contact
between the two (but other folks may have different experiences).

Do you have the option of asking "if it works, do you care how it looks?"

Do you have the option of saying "Access development follows a somewhat
different approach ... but can be extremely well-documented, for the benefit
of those who might need to maintain it later"?

Good luck!

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP