Private Smoke~

2006-04-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Why do software projects fail so often?

While big projects can fail in a spectacular manner, the same is often true for smaller corporate projects: for instance, the unused CRM system or the "integrated" inventory and manufacturing systems unable to talk to each other.
You'd think the government and the corporate world would be getting better at improving the success rate for software projects, but that does not seem to be the case. Why is that?
"The first question that comes to my mind when asked why software projects fail is, 'Why is common sense always the first thing to drop off the face of the earth in software projects?'" said Michael Krigsman, CEO of Asuret, a consultancy aimed at improving software implementations and reducing the risks associated with those projects.
Krigsman said failure of software projects has far less to do with insurmountable technology hurdles than with common business issues that should be addressed but often aren't before projects get under way.
"Does executive management support the project? Has that management committed sufficient resources in executive time and budget dollars to make the project a success? Is there a project management process in place? Has there been a business case made for the project? Is there an ROI analysis for the project? Have the project managers sat down with users and discussed the project?" Krigsman said, when asked what common-sense issues should be discussed.
When I asked one executive who has knowledge of government technology projects and procurement why the FBI's Virtual Case File has apparently flopped, he didn't want to respond on the record, although he did comment that the factors that ensure "successful projects are the same today as they were when I started my career in this field."
That career has spanned several decades, and, while the technology has changed considerably, he said the "same basics around project management and managing the human dimension with its expectations have not changed."

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1755804,00.asp?kc=EWNKT0209KTX1K0100440

2006-04-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

What is test-driven development?

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a computer programming technique that involves writing test cases first and then implementing the code necessary to pass the tests. The goal of test-driven development is to achieve rapid feedback and implements the "illustrate the main line" approach to constructing a program. This technique is heavily emphasized in Extreme Programming.
Practitioners emphasize that test-driven development is primarily a method of designing software, not just a method of testing. The method is also used for removal of software defects.

Test-Driven Development Cycle

1. Write the test
It begins with writing a test. In order to write a test, the developer must understand the specification and the requirements clearly. This is accomplished through use cases and user stories. The design document covers all the test scenarios and exception conditions.

2. Write the code
The next step is to make the test pass by writing the code. This step forces the programmer to take the perspective of a client by seeing the code through its interfaces. This is the design driven part of test-driven development. As part of test calibration, your code should fail the test meaningfully the first time around.

3. Run the automated tests
The next step is to run the automated test cases and observe if they pass or fail. If they pass, the programmer can be more confident that the code meets the test cases as written. If there are failures, the code did not meet the test cases..

4. Refactor
The final step is the refactoring step and any code clean-up necessary will occur here. The test cases are then re-run and observed.

5. Repeat
The cycle will then repeat itself and start with either adding additional functionality or fixing any errors.

Goal:

Despite the initial requirements, test-driven development can provide great value to building software better and faster. It offers more than just simple validation of correctness, but can also drive the design of a program. By focusing on the test cases first, one must imagine how the functionality will be used by clients (in this case, the test cases). Therefore, the programmer is only concerned with the interface and not the implementation. This benefit is complementary to Design by Contract as approaches it through test cases rather than mathematical assertions.
The power test-driven development offers is the ability to take small steps when required. It allows a programmer to focus on the task at hand and often the first goal is to make the test pass. Exceptional cases and error handling are not considered initially. These extraneous circumstances are implemented after the main functionality has been achieved. Another advantage is that test-driven development, when used properly, ensures that all written code is covered by a test. This can give the programmer a greater level of trust in the code.

2006-04-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Software Design Patterns: How much do you understand?

The Adapter Design Pattern is a type of design pattern that is used for converting the interface of a class into an interface that its clients expect to see. This pattern allows incompatible interfaces to work together.

The Bridge Design Pattern separates an abstract interface from its implementation so that both the interface and its implementation can change without any dependancy between each other.

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The Composite Design Pattern is used to compose objects so that they can be represented in part-whole hierarchies in tree-structures. This pattern allows clients to treat individual objects equally.

http://my.execpc.com/~gopalan/design/structural.html

2006-04-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Software quality: What makes a program code good?

It should be made by the help of clients and developers.
It should be friendly usable to both developers and users.
IF have good communication between clients and developers, all requirements will reached, good program will be appeared!

2006-04-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Stuff that lets agile software developers show off what they believe in ?

What does YAGNI mean?
"You aren't gonna need it," a general refrain when someone suggests building functionality for the system that isn't required by any current user story. For example:
Programmer 1: "It says here we need to save the default number of widgets between sessions. I'd better write a generalized object persistence mechanism."
Programmer 2: "YAGNI. Just write out a one-line text file for now. If we need more later, we'll add it later." http://www.jera.com/techinfo/xpfaq.html#yagni

JsUnit is a Unit Testing framework for client-side (in-browser) JavaScript. It is essentially a port of JUnit to JavaScript. Also included is a platform for automating the execution of tests on multiple browsers and mutiple machines running different OSs. Its development began in January 2001. http://www.edwardh.com/jsunit/

2006-04-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Software Engineering Certification Programs: What Can You Learn from Them?

After read the website~
Software Construction and Software Quality seems not include in our textbook~

UML Tools: What is your favorite?

2005-10-31T07:45:00.000-08:00

In our previous practical session, we have tried two professional UML tools–Poseidon for UML Community Edition and Omondo EclipseUML Free Edition–to draw some simple UML diagrams. You are also encouraged to try Visual Paradigm for UML Community Edition in your spare time. These three professional UML tools were all developed by large companies that are specialized in UML modeling software. You can read this post of my personal weblog about the details of them.
Do you mind tell us what is your favorite among them after your initial evaluation? What are your rationale and criteria that lead to your selection? Have you tried or heard of other UML tool that you consider it better than the three suggested products.
Put your opinion on your weblog and let us know the URL to your post. Thank for your participation and contribution to this course so far.

Actually I still cant deeply know these two professional UML tools. But I like Poseidon for UML Community Edition. I think this is quite easy to use. But I think I still need time to "digest" them in order to write more about it @@.

Basic skills ~~~~~~~~~

2005-10-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

What do you think about the basic skills for software engineers?
You can search the Internet about this topic. Alternatively, you can look at some recruitment advertisement on posts like software developers or programmers. Then list a number of skills that you think them important to Software Engineering, and briefly describe each of them. Finally, let us know which skills do you expect to learn from the course Software Engineering and Project Management.
Put your write-up on your blog and let us know the URL to your post.

The first time I get contact with software engineering is in my associate degree year2. I think this is a subject that we see it is easy, but deeply, it is quick difficult to understand.

First I think you ahve to know clearly what the customer need
Second is you must know the software development concept and work out a project with clear identification.

I think that is 2 main skills that a software engineer should have.

I hope after the course/program, I can done the 2 skills above andI look forward to learn what is project management~

Sorry that post late~

Start of Blogger -.-

2005-09-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

The time now is 14:39.
Testing in Lab B0411 -.-"""