I have a little problem with the 50-70% number, but you should NEVER write an application without adequate specifications. OTOH, there are a lot of things about applications that are the same - security, basic navigation, etc. You should spend a little time and make generic modules that you can 'plug' into your spec.

Also, I am an advocate of using an application framework - that said, you should get comfortable with a framework and a design style, and stick with it. Then when you write specifications (plans), a lot of the basic design will be done... allowing you to focus on the business processes you are trying to automate.



>I spend at least half my time (sometimes as much as 70% of my time) planning an application. I use different tools to record my plan (word processors, dbf tables, excel spreadsheets) but when the plan is complete, I basically have to start from scratch to develop the application. It seems to me that I am wasting a lot of time because many objects developed in the plan could be created almost automatically.
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>I have looked at several development enviroments but they help in the development but not in the planning. Does anyone know of a good planning tool that I can use that will automate some of the development as well.
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>Thanks
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>Larry