This is just to report an article I did read: its title is Getting Real, Step 1: No Functional Spec and what is funny about that, is that while being pointed to that article I was writing a… functional specifications paper. I do not agree completely with the assumptions of the article, but I agree with the “Interface is the application” slogan. My reasons will simply sum up with all those present in the loooong list of comments, so I don’t bother reporting them here. Instead, I’ll quote a very smart opinion of one of the readers:

eXtreme Programming have a few good sayings about that: Do The Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work and You’re Not Gonna Need It. Trying to guess what the evolution of the system is going to bring is inefficient at best and utterly destructive at worst. Carrying around baggage of fortune tales of one possible future is going to harm your ability to deal with the present. Worry about today today and leave tomorrow’s troubles for tomorrow.