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| Thursday, June 5, 2003: 10:00 AM Go to 11:00 AM Go to 2:00 PM |
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| Double-Track Session! |
T1 Methods & Techniques
Testing Is About Requirements Specification — An Agile View
Robert C. Martin, Object Mentor Inc.
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Agile methods have taught us a lot about testing, both at the unit level and at the system level, and one thing that’s abundantly clear is that well-written tests can be better at specifying requirements than prose documents. In this session, Robert Martin demonstrates how a good test can also act as a good requirements document. He also discusses what this means to the role of QA for software development projects.
• View the demonstration of an open-source automated testing framework
• Find out how to write automated tests in Microsoft Word
• Examine the role of QA in an agile development environment |
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T2 Managing Projects
The Importance of Discovery: Step One in Managing Web Development Projects
Seth Miller, Miller Systems, Inc.
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If you’re launching a new Web-based application, extranet, intranet, or Web site, your mission is to build something that meets requirements and generates positive returns. Whether it’s database normalization, abstraction of business logic from presentation layer, creative design, or Web services components, you must define — and discover — the specific requirements and technical approaches before even one line of code is written. Seth Miller shows you how to avoid costly and expensive measures that could be called in to correct problems not considered during discovery. He illustrates how a predevelopment discovery process is key to building and implementing a well-orchestrated development plan, and to keeping your organization and development partner on track.
• Determine which kinds of projects need to go through discovery, and which don’t
• Understand the difference between a long-term technology investment and a short-term solution
• Examine the inventory of deliverables that comes out of a healthy discovery process | |
T3 Working in Teams
Creating an Error-Prevention Culture
Gary Brunell, ParaSoft
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As software continues to grow as a vital element in today’s business operations, the need to produce reliable software becomes increasingly critical. But given the current state of buggy software, there definitely seems to be a problem. So where did we go wrong? The answer and the solution may both lie within the culture of software development. Gary Brunell offers ways to build and sustain an error-prevention software development culture, one that curbs the number of errors that slip through development and QA. He also shows you how to get your team to embrace preventive measures and stop the same errors from occurring again and again.
• Delegate quality ownership and testing to foster pride in individual work
• Learn to take preventive measures by identifying the cause, not just the error
• Discover the benefits and productivity impact of an error-prevention culture | |
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| Thursday, June 5, 2003: 11:00 AM Go to 10:00 AM Go to 2:00 PM |
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T4 Managing Projects
.NET — A Complete Development Cycle
Gunther Lenz, Siemens Corporate Research
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From theory to practice, this session shows you how to apply good software engineering practices. Gunther Lenz delivers a practical approach to a real-world, Microsoft .NET project using state-of-the-art tools. He shows you ways you can apply the theoretical knowledge throughout the different phases and workflows. You’ll also see how to ensure your software’s quality by using an efficient process, tracking, and testing strategy. Maintenance strategies are also covered.
• Find out how to use the unified process in a real-world project
• Examine project management throughout the complete development cycle
• Find out how to use state-of-the-art tools to tackle your project | |
T5 Working in Teams
The Soft Side of Software — People Factors in Software Development
Gary Pollice, Rational Software
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You have great tools and the right processes, yet your software development teams are performing less than optimally. While tools and processes are necessary, they’re not sufficient for ensuring sustainable, peak performance levels. What really count are your people, and how you integrate them with these processes and tools. This session presents practical techniques for succeeding at the “soft” side of software development. Gary Pollice delivers more than 30 years’ worth of research and case studies and shows you what to do and what not to do, as well as ways to decide what’s appropriate for your team.
• Learn how to balance people, processes, and tools
• Find out why people who develop software are different and what to do about it
• Obtain resources for immediate and future reference | |
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| Thursday, June 5, 2003: 2:00 PM Go to 10:00 AM Go to 11:00 AM |
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T12 Methods & Techniques
Climbing the SPI Mountain
Tom Keltner, LexisNexis
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How can smaller plus slower add up to faster and better? In the world of software process improvement (SPI), it’s becoming clear that by proceeding slowly but surely — like climbing a mountain — to create a solid foundation for your SPI and metrics efforts, you’ll actually deliver a faster result that lasts longer in your organization. In this presentation, Tom Keltner shares his approach to SPI. He’ll take you through the process, which is based upon working with a small area in order to build practitioner support for the components one step at a time. The result is that initial practitioners share these broad applications with other practitioners, and soon there’s a solid foundation established. He’ll illustrate why attempting a smaller, focused SPI effort works faster than a broad, aggressive one.
• Discover the difference between executive involvement and executive support
• Analyze the differences in approach to commercial Web development SPI and embedded software SPI
• See how tools and methods can be applied differently to get a better result | |
T13 Managing Projects
The Reality of XP: A Real-World Case Study
Drake Kirkham, Cirris Systems Corporation
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We all know that eXtreme programming (XP) is a relatively new software development methodology that promises a better way to build software. And while many people have much to say regarding XP, the fact is there are few who actually practice the theory of XP. This session explores the realities of a real-world application of the XP method, one that’s been successfully implemented with measurable results. You’ll get an up-close- and-personal view of an XP shop that really works, and you’ll leave with the confidence — and paperwork — to back up your XP transition plans, no matter what your industry.
• Reshape your thinking into an XP orientation
• Learn how to transform your traditional development shop with an XP approach
• Find ways to overcome management obstacles when it comes to XP | |
T14 Working in Teams
Reducing Organization Stress and Strain: Tools for Aligning Technology and Business
Elisabeth Hendrickson, Quality Tree Software, Inc.
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Why is it that technologists and marketers are often at loggerheads? Perhaps it’s because different parts of the organization are not in alignment. As you know, there are as many definitions for “success” as there are stakeholders. In her various consulting roles, Elisabeth Hendrickson has had the opportunity to work with a variety of stakeholders within organizations, from executives to individual contributors across marketing, development, sales, QA, etc. She often gets an earful from each stakeholder about the horrors visited upon them by the others. In this session, she shows you how to employ the tools she uses to bring diverse parts of the organization into alignment.
• Use tools to facilitate conversations between business drivers and technologists
• Find ways to ensure everyone is on the same page working toward the same goals
• Learn how to find out what customers really want, not just what they say they want | |
