The Latest
Applying Configuration Management to Agile Teams[article] A variety of agile software development methods and practices have now been around for a solid ten years and existed for at least another ten years prior. Configuration management (CM) for agile development has now been discussed since the turn of the century. So what are the core principles of CM and how can CM help agile teams? |
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Software Configuration Management For Small Teams[article] Small software teams rarely follow best practices, nor do they use their tools to the full extent. Implementing some of the practices listed in this article can help your software configuration management strategy increase its value to your organization. |
Anonymous
July 14, 2008 |
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Can Configuration Management Defend You Against Information Asymmetry?[article] Information Asymmetry is what happens when one party to a transaction has more relevant information than the other, and doesn't share it. Configuration management, done right, has the power to eliminate asymmetry, or at the very least - lessen its impact on projects. |
Robert Benjamin
July 13, 2008 |
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Your Small Business Can't Afford to Not Invest in SCM[article] It used to be that SCM was a complex and effort-intensive process that small projects and businesses could not affort to invest in. Tools were expensive, automation was a daunting task, and the imposition of process on the small development team would take away the small business advantage of moving quickly. Today, and certainly in the next generation of CM, quite the opposite is true. How can that be? |
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"Agile" Means Disciplined SCM[article] For many people, Agile software development congers up the thought of "undisciplined" software development. The reality is that using an Agile approach to its greatest benefit requires discipline in a variety of ways. None is more critical than the discipline of software configuration management. Agile teams are generally small, but their SCM needs are big.
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Alan S. Koch
July 13, 2008 |
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Attacking Waste in Software: Three Practices We Must Embrace Now[article]
Video
In this keynote presentation from the Better Software Conference & EXPO, Jean Tabaka proposes three pivotal practices that we must embrace to aggressively attack waste in software delivery—software-as-a-service, community, and fast-feature throughput. |
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A Tale of Two Trees[article] Our discussion of source control must begin by defining the basic terms and describing the basic operations. Let's start by defining two important terms: repository and working folder. |
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Learning Make with the Towers of Hanoi[article] The Towers of Hanoi puzzle consists of a small board with three pegs on it. On the left most peg a stack of discs is arranged in descending order of size: the largest disc is on the bottom. |
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Write Now[article] Software professionals excel at writing code, test plans, and other types of technically oriented documents. However, many of them struggle when it comes to writing of a non-technical nature. Naomi Karten offers tips for strengthening your ability to write articulately and compellingly. |
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Programming with GUTs[magazine] Because tests are commonly viewed in terms of offering quantitative feedback on the presence or absence of defects in specific situations, Good Unit Tests need to both illustrate and define the behavioral contract of the unit in question. Do you have GUTs? |
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Two Cheers for Ambiguity[magazine] Some people dismiss words such as skill, diversity, problems, and mission as being too ambiguous to be useful. But one tester's ambiguity is another tester's gauge for assessing consensus on a project and how to achieve that consensus. |
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Going on a Picnic with James Watt[magazine] What if you had a picnic and no one brought potato salad? Find out what picnic planning and steam engines have to do with project success and not just satisfying your customers but delighting them. |
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Encourage Pair Programming[magazine] Pair programming is one of the most controversial agile practices. Managers are concerned about the costs and developers are concerned about personal agony. But there also are many benefits. If you are thinking about trying pair programming, here are several reasons why you should. |
Rob Myers
June 24, 2008 |
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Software: Use at Your Own Risk[magazine] Is it really so hard to produce software that works? When was the last time you read a software license agreement? Most are one-sided statements that limit the product developer's liability. It's time to move away from "Use at your own risk" software and be upfront with customers about the true cost of quality. |
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Give Your Defects Some Static[magazine] Computer security has raised the demand for automated tools that can analyze source code for vulnerabilities and defects. Find out how you can put automated static analyzers to work for you. |