>OR, they use your app for a year or more without a single complaint, then come back and say "it's not what I wanted." Of course, what they want is to have the app modified to reflect new conditions, but they don't want to pay for the modifications. They are trying to get you to do it for free by claiming it "wasn't right". That's why I quickly learned, in my first year of consulting, never to program by a job, only by the hour, with with regularly scheduled test runs and sign offs.

Yes, the protoype, test and sign-off loop has helped me no end. It's a tough lesson the first couple of times you get stung.