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The A to Z of Programmer Predilictions: "Introduction There is a realization that comes with the accrual of software development experience across a reasonable number of organizations, and it is this: Though the names change, the problems remain the same. Traveling from project to project, from one organization to another, across disparate geographies, domains and technologies, I am repeatedly struck more by the similarities between the projects I work on than their differences. Scenes from one job seem to replay in the next one, only with a different set of actors. You might finish a gig in which you've seen a project flop due to inadequate consultation with end users, only to find your next project heading down the same path for exactly the same reason. And it generally doesn't matter how much you jump up and down and try and warn your new project team that you've seen the disastrous results of similar actions in the past. They will ignore you, insisting that their situation is somehow different. You will stand back and watch in horror as the whole scenario plays out as you knew it would, all the while unable to do anything more to prevent it. The IT contractor's career can be like some cruel matinee of 'Groundhog Day' - without the moral resolution at the end. But this technological déjà vu is not limited to technical scenarios - it extends to peop"