Tracer code is "The Pragmatic Programmer" approach to applying Gall's Law:
Tracer code is not disposable: you write it for keeps. It contains all the error checking, structuring, documentation, and self-checking that any piece of production code has. It simply is not fully functional. However, once you have achieved an end-to-end connection among the components of your system, you can check how close to the target you are, adjusting if necessary.
What I'm describing is also how one can incrementally get to the Tracer Code. First, write something stupid. Perhaps it's fragile and hardcoded and only sends one particular query and gets the answer back. Then correct the hardcoding and start filling in the missing pieces.
Tracer code is not disposable: you write it for keeps. It contains all the error checking, structuring, documentation, and self-checking that any piece of production code has. It simply is not fully functional. However, once you have achieved an end-to-end connection among the components of your system, you can check how close to the target you are, adjusting if necessary.
What I'm describing is also how one can incrementally get to the Tracer Code. First, write something stupid. Perhaps it's fragile and hardcoded and only sends one particular query and gets the answer back. Then correct the hardcoding and start filling in the missing pieces.