>>Unit Testing and iterative development will eliminate most of that. I'm working on an application right now that will open an Excel sheet, parse the data, and create an XML file for import into a different system. We bought an Excel library for this. It's API seems strange and I don't need almost all of it. No charting, no display, etc. I had to wade through the docs more than once to find what I need. Now that I have that, I'm writing lots more code. But, I'm doing it along with unit tests, so I write a bit of code, run the test, write a bit more code, run the test.

Were this discussion occurring a decade ago, your average practitioner would know exactly how to complete your task as described using a single predictable product, writing a single proc that could be written and tested in about an hour. You prove Dragan's point: only IT would see it as a benefit now to have to purchase an extra tool and then wade through a galaxy of features that are no good to you.

So much for tech advancement making things easier and more streamlined. Rube Goldberg would have loved "modern" IT, as well as the tendency for gurus to glory in the pointless complexity of it all while insisting that it's for the customer, all for the customer.