Software Endgames by Galen, Robert -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

About This eBook Title Page Copyright Page Also Available from Dorset House Publishing Dedication Page Acknowledgments Contents Preface

My Motivation for the Book Intended Audience How to Approach This Book What We’re Not Trying to Explore

Chapter One. Introduction

You Know You’re in the Endgame When ... Focus of the Book: It’s Mostly About Defects Triage Workflow Repair Triage and Change Control Workflows Flow of the Book

Part One: Endgame Basics

Chapter Two. Triage and Change Control Process and Meeting Framework

Different Names and Formats Formal CCB Format A Lightweight CCB (LW-CCB) Explored A Quick Look at the Meeting Flow Meeting Participant Roles Setting Up Meeting Dynamics Triage Meeting—Agenda Format Decision-Making Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Three. Developing Release Criteria and Working Views

Release Criteria or Defining Success Better Decisions: Aspects of a Project Working View Steps to Establishing a Working View Examples of Working View Application Scenarios Project Application: Example #1 Project Application: Example #2 Project Application: Example #3, Another Approach Resetting Your Working View Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Four. Endgame Release Framework

Overview of the Framework A Word on Strategy Release Framework Example Measuring Progress for the Release Framework Ownership of the Release Framework Updating Your Release Framework The Impact of Granularity on Methodologies Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Five. Reducing the Rate of Change

Change Reduction Milestones for the Endgame Framework The Notion of a Code Freeze Beyond Code Freeze and Code Complete—Defect Repair Change Cycles Change Reduction Anti-Patterns How the CCB Assists in Change Reduction Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Six. Configuration Management in the Endgame

Configuration Management Readiness Checklist Level of CM Control Granularity Early On—Run a Practice Build Test Beware of Changing Tools in the Endgame The Role of Team Leaders in Configuration Management Periodic (Nightly) Builds and Smoke Testing Release Turnover Meetings Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Part Two: Endgame Defects

Chapter Seven. Defect Basics: Terms, Tools, Methods, and Management

Fundamental Defect Types Basic Defect Data Fields Defect Evolution Introduction to Work Queues Information Weight Using Defects to Track Development (and Other) Work Frequent Defect Monitoring—What Needs Attention The Idea of Bug Advocacy Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Eight. Useful and Relevant Metrics

Find (New) Versus Fixed (Closed, Deferred) Factoring in Priority Factoring In Keywords Defect Transition Progress Functional Areas and Defect Distribution Further Examination of Trending—Correlations to External Stimuli Metrics Analysis Questions Maintaining Historical Data Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Nine. The Many Ways to Fix Defects

Just Repair It Make a Partial Repair to Reduce Impact and Severity Log It As a Known Defect and Move On Simply Change the Severity or Priority Ignore It and Hope It Goes Away ... Consider It Anomalous Behavior and Wait for the Next Occurrence Defer the Repair to a Later Release Negotiate with Marketing or the Customer to Change the Requirement Add More System Resources to Reduce the Impact Find a Workaround (Procedural, Operational, Documentation, or Automated) Remove the Functionality/Code Change or Remove Interacting Software Products Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Part Three: Endgame Workflow

Chapter Ten: Work Queues and Packaging

Work Queues Deriving Work Queues from Your Defect-Tracking System Queue Loading Rules How Should Testing Interact with the Work Queues? Deal with Defect Repairs in Packages Thinking About Package Costs Think About Your Regression Trends Package Plan Status and General Replanning Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Eleven. Defect Repair Selection: Other Considerations

Reproducing the Defect Overall Level of Difficulty Locality and Relationship to Other Defects How Will the Repair Impact the Test Team? Exploring Possible Workarounds Handling Gold Features Considering Your Available Resources Likelihood That the Defect Will Surface in Normal Operation of the Product Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Twelve. Endgame Estimation: A Few Useful Collaborative Techniques

Defect Estimation Life Cycle PSP PROBE Method-Proxy-Based Estimation Wideband Delphi Method Other Estimation Techniques Collaborative Estimation—What to Collect Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Part Four: Endgame Management

Chapter Thirteen. Management Dynamics

The Importance of Team Leads: Clear Roles and Responsibilities The Tone of the Endgame Be Aware of the Natural Tension Points Across Functional Groups Identify Your Best Debuggers Reserve Resources or Develop Generalists for Later Repairs Team Types: Strengths for the Endgame Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Fourteen. Leadership Practices

The Burden of Leadership Use of Overtime Establish a War Room Find Room for Play Daily Status Meetings Gathering General Status Handling Distributed Endgame Teams Knowing When to Say When—Release Knowing When to Say When—You’re in Trouble The Testing Team—Your Secret Weapon Wrap-Up: Additions to Your Endgame Toolbox

Chapter Fifteen: Endgame Retrospectives and Conclusions

Keeping an Endgame Log or Diary Should You Conduct a Retrospective? Key Points of a Retrospective Guidelines for an Endgame Retrospective Using Your Endgame Data in the Retrospective Endgames Provide Wonderful Insights into the Character of Your Team Celebrating Success Agile Endgames Concluding Thoughts

Afterword: An Invitation to Endgame Collaboration Appendix A: Pre-Endgame Preparation Checklist Appendix B: Collaborative Estimation, Data Focus Checklist Appendix C: Sticky Note Guidelines

Note-Generator Guidelines Note-Facilitator Guidelines Note Formats

Appendix D: Guidelines for Constructing Endgame Release Frameworks

Historical Notes Plan Details Endgame Flow

References Index