SW Construction | Static Analysis: Tools and more tools (FFR)

Yet another examples of static analysis tools (for source code metrics collection, understanding projec: 

• https://scitools.com/ - Understand. Not free. But also not that expensive ;)
• UCC, http://csse.usc.edu/ucc_wp/ - Source code metrics for a whole lot of languages, including VHDL. What's this?
• CLOC, https://github.com/AlDanial/cloc (was: http://cloc.sourceforge.net/) - Line counter

The importance of... writing

The importance of writing well can never be over-stressed. And I am not talking of code, I am talking of code comments, and even more importantly, of deliverable documents (proposal documents, technical baseline documents, user and / or administration manuals, meeting minutes, etc.) as well as formal communications.

We're talking of "proper" English (or whatever language you have to write on - I am not a native English speaker but I have had for several years to work in English). If you don't do it, your customers might think you're an amateur, unprofessional person and might run away from your... software (which is a curious thing).

There are good resources on how to write better, you might be interested in researching and subscribing to them (if applicable):

- One example of a quick recap you can find in the WWW:
Use of capital letters:
http://wmgroup.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/i/941747E3A36E00D2/5A0433250211844FC5EC08CADFFC107B

Doubled consonants:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#Doubled_consonants

- More and in "small doses" like the above (to learn a little bit at a time, as it typically works better): https://twitter.com/thewmgroup/status/695639693795446787?lang=bg


@2016-11-04: Added consonants topic

SW Construction: Let's do it like they do it on space? | NASA Coding Conventions

So I remembered that some (oldie but for sure goldie) coding conventions are freely available from NASA JPL, several languages available:
https://www.google.pt/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=nasa%20jpl%20coding%20standards

FFR. But meanwhile you can start applying it (and doing "IT" like they do it on - i,e. for - space)

SW Construction: MVC Design Patterns (and related patterns | .Net)

Here are some MVVM, ASP.Net MVC resources, with something for the ones liking it on a video format:

ASP.Net MVC (Model-View-Controller):

• What is (the original GOF pattern): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93controller
• ...And the MS (open source) implementation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASP.NET_MVC
• https://www.asp.net/mvc (the MS MVC site)
• https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Introduction-to-ASP-NET-MVC
• https://mva.microsoft.com/en-us/training-courses/introduction-to-asp-net-mvc-8322?l=nKZwZ8Zy_3504984382

MVVM (Model-View-View-Model):

• What is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93viewmodel
• http://www.learnmvvm.com/
• https://channel9.msdn.com/Search?term=mvvm#ch9Search&lang-en=en (all MVVM videos from Channel 9)

MVP (Model View Presenter):

• What is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93presenter
• https://channel9.msdn.com/Search?term=model%20view%20presenter%20#lang-en=en&ch9Search (not much here around)

Remember to keep on checking the Channel 9 Videos as well as the Microsoft Virtual Academy.

Software Construction: Scripting with Python

Every programmer shall have in its tricks bag competencies in some kind of scripting language. Along the way you'll have to know a way of automating repetitive tasks to save you and your team time (while building, deploying, testing, etc.).

Good candidates include Python (do you agree on that?): It's said to be simple and fast to learn as well as free:

1. https://www.python.org/
2. http://www.astro.up.pt/~sousasag/Python_For_Astronomers/Python_qr.pdf (cheat sheet)
3. https://perso.limsi.fr/pointal/_media/python:cours:mementopython3-english.pdf (cheat sheet)
4. http://lifehacker.com/keep-this-python-cheat-sheet-on-hand-when-learning-to-c-1655521825 (cheat sheet)
5. http://www.tecmint.com/the-truth-of-python-and-perl-features-pros-and-cons-discussed/ (Perl vs Python)

BOOK: Clean Code | Robert C. Martin

So, another good book on how to write good (clean) code to keep in mind is Robert C. Martin's "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship":

https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsmanship/dp/0132350882

Quoting:
"Even bad code can function. But if code isn’t clean, it can bring a development organization to its knees. Every year, countless hours and significant resources are lost because of poorly written code. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Noted software expert Robert C. Martin presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship . Martin has teamed up with his colleagues from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning code “on the fly” into a book that will instill within you the values of a software craftsman and make you a better programmer—but only if you work at it.

What kind of work will you be doing? You’ll be reading code—lots of code. And you will be challenged to think about what’s right about that code, and what’s wrong with it. More importantly, you will be challenged to reassess your professional values and your commitment to your craft.

Clean Code is divided into three parts. The first describes the principles, patterns, and practices of writing clean code. The second part consists of several case studies of increasing complexity. Each case study is an exercise in cleaning up code—of transforming a code base that has some problems into one that is sound and efficient. The third part is the payoff: a single chapter containing a list of heuristics and “smells” gathered while creating the case studies. The result is a knowledge base that describes the way we think when we write, read, and clean code.

Readers will come away from this book understanding
How to tell the difference between good and bad code
How to write good code and how to transform bad code into good code
How to create good names, good functions, good objects, and good classes
How to format code for maximum readability
How to implement complete error handling without obscuring code logic
How to unit test and practice test-driven development
This book is a must for any developer, software engineer, project manager, team lead, or systems analyst with an interest in producing better code."

Table of Contents 

Clean code

Meaningful names

Functions

Comments

Formatting

Objects and data structures

Error handling

Boundaries

Unit tests

Classes

Systems

Emergence

Concurrency

Successive refinement

JUnit internals

Refactoring serialdate

Smells and heuristics

Appendix A: Concurrency II

Appendix B: Org.jfree.date.serialdate

Appendix C: Cross references of heuristics

Epilogue.

DIGEST: Agile/Scrum links

Agile / Scrum recent relevant links include:

• The Scrum Official Guide we've been browsing (still the July 2013 version): http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/06/scrum-definitive-guide-scrumorg-agile.html 
• ...and the same Scrum Official Guide in PT-BR:  http://www.scrumguides.org/docs/scrumguide/v1/Scrum-Guide-Portuguese-BR.pdf, 
• ... as well as the summary.
• The INVEST Model that each US shall respect: http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/04/quality-attributes-invest-on-proper.html
• "Moaning" about the Product Vision: http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/06/about-product-vision.html

Additional resources related to Agile / Scrum:

• BOOK - The "new" book by Mr. Scrum: http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/08/mr-scrum-wrote-yet-another-book-scrum.html
• BOOK - Actionable Agile Tools - Jeff Campbell: http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/06/book-actionable-agile-tools-jeff.html
• (Tip: For additional books filter by the tag BOOK here around).

The Tools Dept.: 

• A task board online tool named Trello (and links to some more used in the context of Scrum like Sococo): http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/10/tool-online-task-boards-trello-tour.html

(Updated: 2016-10-20, PT BR link; minor rephrases; 2016-11-24: link to summary and minor rephrases; 2017-06-06: actionable book)

TOOL: Online Task Boards - Trello Tour

An online task board implementation so that we can leave those post-its/magnetic cards off the wall/board (when doing Agile / Scrum or even Kan Ban). Use a tool to support you on that such as Trello:

• Trello Tour

PS: Kudos to André Martins for pointing this out. Also make sure to check additional tools for remote teams collaboration here and here (sococo).

Intermission: Git (the slang and the GBCS tool)

As per Wikipedia:
"Git is a mild pejorative with origins in British English for an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person. It is usually an insult, more severe than twit or idiot but less severe than wanker, arsehole or twat.
The word git first appeared in print in 1946, but is undoubtedly older. [citation needed] It is originally an alteration of the word get, dating back to the 14th century.[citation needed] A shortening of beget, get insinuates that the recipient is someone's misbegotten offspring and therefore a bastard. In parts of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland get is still used in preference to git; the get form is used in the Beatles song "I'm So Tired". [citation needed]
The word has been ruled by the Speaker of the House of Commons to be unparliamentary language.
The word was used self-deprecatingly by Linus Torvalds in naming the git source control package."
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(slang)


I also have some (fun) words to say on Git:
The GB smart metering initiative is called Great Britain Companion Specification (GBCS) and there's a well known Portuguese company heavily involved in it (although that is not much publicized). One of the tools was called GFI (Git For Industry) and this is a quote from "Smart Metering for Dummies - CGI" that refers to it, as well as to the unfortunate choice of name.
But if Linus did it, why not other? 

Quoting:
"In an attempt to accelerate development of devices in the absence of a DCC environment, the DCC has commissioned Critical Software to modify a tool previously developed to validate GBCS (the unfortunately named GBCS Interface Testing, or GIT for short). The modified tool, GIT for Industry (GFI) will allow device manufacturers to generate ‘gold standard’ GBCS commands on a ZigBee HAN to which they can connect and test their devices. By the time you read this, the first version of this tool should have been released and we should be well into a series of seven GBCS Test Events organised by the DCC for budding device manufacturers to come along and test out their devices against GIT."

Quoting:
"Parse and Correlate Provider: The Parse and Correlate (P&C) Provider is responsible for
developing the software application used by DCC Users to convert GBCS (the protocol used by the DCC to talk to smart devices) into DUIS (the protocol used by DCC Users to talk to the DCC). P&C also checks that the DSP has done its job correctly when translating critical commands (really important ones) into GBCS (the correlate bit of Parse and Correlate).
This will all make much more sense when you’ve read Chapter 4 (trust me). Critical Software was appointed P&C Provider on 29 April 2014 under a three‐year contract with the option of two one‐year extensions."

The PDF can be found here (requires registration): https://www.cgi-group.co.uk/smart-metering-for-dummies

About GBCS: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/smart-metering-implementation-programme-the-process-to-finalise-the-great-britain-companion-specification

(@2016-10: additional text, quote)

INDEX: About Project Plans - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (of QMS / SDP Project Plans)

The Short Story

Plans, plans, plans… 

Q: What kind of initial QMS / SDP-related documentation should it be created at project start (also called Kick-off)?

A: "Some" plans. 

Plans, allow us to plan (which by the way everyone should do) and after approval, allow us to monitor and control the project execution against those same plans. PMs are responsible to approve them even though sometimes they will delegate their creation and maintenance to the TM and/or the most experienced SPAE (Software Product Assurance Engineer) in the team.

What plans are we talking about? The project Plan (and the related detailed plan), the QAP, the CMP, …

You'll hear of even more plans (depending on the standards we are being compliant with). Mainly it has to do with the fact that for some standards we have to plan even further (and deliver those plans so that the contractor knows how we plan - and later on, double check the execution of tasks in the plan, through the inspection of produced evidences). Examples of such standards are the ESA standards (ECSS, for space development), DO-178 (for airborne systems), CENELEC 50126 (for railway applications), and so on. 

Examples of those include:

• Software Verification Plan (SVP)
• Software Validation Plan or (the mix of both):
• Software Verification and Validation Plan (SVVP)

Another PA-related artifact is the PA Log book (sometimes called SPAE Logbook). 

And Agile/Scrum projects use yet another log book: The sprint retro logbook.

What is the purpose of those main SDP plans? 

What are their goals , when are they created, when should they be updated?

Before starting, one important thing to remember is the fact that there should be a public list of QMS Process Owners (PO) and some backups for that role (called Process Representatives - PRs).

• One example of such a list can be found here (list of POs - INTERNAL): https://quality.critical.pt/SitePages/QMS-Unified/Process%20Owner%20and%20Process%20Representatives%20(Unified).aspx
• TIP: If the process has not yet been "unified" (the status can be checked here): https://quality.critical.pt/SitePages/QMS-Unified/Alignment%20Status.aspx), you could have to look here: https://quality.critical.pt/SitePages/QMS/Process%20Owner%20and%20Process%20Representatives.aspx
• Having the names, use the Beatles' song tip: "You know my name, look up the number" (in your company contacts database containing, place of work, phone contact and e-mail).

The (Very) Long Story

In order to know more about each artifact, the following "sequence of steps" is recommended:

• Read one entry in the final table below; from there you get to know the QMS process to where it belongs;
• Open the QMS Process and browse (at least) the main activities there described (typically there is only a single table/slide per process activity).
• The plan/artifact in question should be an artifact of this process you've just opened and if not, it is because it probably is just updated by this process. It could be an AD of the process or not - you can check it at the end of the process document.
• Open the template for the artifact (or the provided samples - if any), and scan read its contents. If some concrete examples are available also scan them. Google can also find them.
• Read the associated guidebooks (or the instruction sheets in the spreadsheet files).
• During this process, remember to list your questions / open issues so that in the end you can always go to the PO (or as a last resource the QD) and solve them.
• The one million dollar final questions to answer are:
• Am I able to create these documents from scratch?
• Am I able to understand them and extract the needed information for the activities/tasks I will be performing for the project?
• Do I know who to talk to in case of doubt (who is the doc owner? Who are the PO/PRs)?

INDEX: Plan / Artifact	Templates / Examples / Additional Relevant Docs
Templates (Docs from MT)	<<master template -- Quality Assurance Plan.docx>> <<master template -- Product Assurance Report.docx>> <<master template -- Int. Configuration Management Plan.docx>> <<master template -- Configuration Management Plan.docx>>
Templates (Spreadsheets)	<<internal QAP pre-tailored -- CSW-QMS-2013-TPL-00997-rd-pre-tailored-qap.xltx>> <<internal QAP -- PA Process -- CSW-QMS-2009-TPL-04681-quantitative-qap.xltx>> <<CSW-QMS-2014-TPL-01088-sprint-retrospective-workbook.xltm>> <<CSW-QMS-2007-TPL-0112-configuration-items-list.xltm>> <<CSW-QMS-2006-TPL-1126-spae-log-book.xltm>>
GBKs	<<CSW-QMS-2014-GBK-01269-agile-guidebook.pdf>> <<CSW-QMS-2012-GBK-04055-crucible-guidebook.pdf>> <<CSW-QMS-2012-GBK-02170-research-development-projects-tailoring.pdf>> <<CSW-QMS-2010-GBK-04838-review-report-macro.pdf>> <<CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-04120-wise-project-module-guidebook.pdf>> <<CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-03894-project-milestones-meetings.pdf>> <<CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-03591-qap-how-to.pdf>>
Relevant Trainings	<<project-management-practices-at-csw-internal-training.pptx>> <<CSW-QMS-2016-PRS-00605-QMSVerificationProcess2016DocumentandCodeR.pptx>> <<CSW-2015-PRS-00614-managing-baselines-and-change-control-tracking.pptx>> <<CSW-QMS-2015-TPL-00368-excel-project-tips-tricks.pdf>>

Artifact / Work Product (Plan)	Who is mostly involved	QMS Process / Doc. Level	Main Purpose	Artifact Doc Format / Tool	Generated by MT?	Example Doc. / Link	Associated Template and/or GBK / HOW-TO	More info (when to create, update and AOB)	AOB
Master Project Plan	PM	PM Process (MAN.1)	High-level plan (Gantt chart with the main WBS of the project (similar to the one produced for the estimation sum-up sheet if created during proposal elaboration); Relevant topics and uses for this artifact include: high level view of ptoject activities (overall view); end project date determination;  resource balancing; critical path analysis; effort and cost estimation (use of PERT estimation techniques  -Best Case Scenario, Expected Case Sc., Worst Case Sc.)…	MS Project (.mpp, etc.)		Web view of Gantt example  (WISE projects module, project EXOMARSTGO: https://wise.critical.pt/wiseweb/projects/ProjectPlan.action?expandAllTasks=&_sourcePage=%2FWEB-INF%2Fjsps%2Fprojects%2FprojectPlan.jsp&id=7439&showDeliverables=true&showWorkpackages=true&allSelected=true&showMilestones=true) For each project, the WISE export can be opened in MS Project: https://wise.critical.pt/wiseweb/projects/ExportProjectFile.action?id=7439	For MS Project planning tool info, tips and tricks, see training: https://my.critical.pt/humanresources/Documents/CSW-QMS-2015-TPL-00368-excel-project-tips-tricks.pdf	Should be always kept up to date (acc. To CRs/CCNs, approved changes to schedule, …); uploaded to "WISE Projects"; V1 ready at KOM (based on info from PRL, if existent)	Previously: There were ECS and ASD master plan templates as QMS artifacts. A guide for the "WISE Project Module" (covering EVM indicators, managing baselines and more) can be found here: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-01-project-management/CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-04120-wise-project-module-guidebook.pdf
Detailed Project Plan	Typically: PM/TM	PM Process (MAN.1)	Used for detailed planning (day to day tasks, concrete resource allocations, % progress…)	MS Project (.mpp)		Optional: Created if a finer planning and control is needed (by the TM): details the Master Plan (and could be used to report %s progress for each task and calculate overal % progress, etc.)	N/A	Updated weekly (with progress)
External QAP	SPAE (PM typically delegates)	Software Product Assurance Process (MAN.8)	A written statement on how we intend to perform QA activities (i.e. how will the QMS apply to the project).  For instance: Describes the QA aspects of verification including Review activities to be performed Transition criteria for review activities The external QAP is a doc; The internal QAP is a XLS (see entry in this table).	MS Word (Master template, template ID = TBD - empty at MT at the moment, reported PROCIMP-819);	Yes	See template TOC.	See template and "fill in the blanks"; see QAP GBK: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-08-software-product-assurance/CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-03591-qap-how-to.pdf	Optional: If DL, it is created at KO; tailored with the QD (in case of doubt)	Note: This document could not be requested by the customer as deliverable (DL).
Internal QAP	SPAE	Software Product Assurance Process (MAN.8)	XLS that includes all process tailorings: e.g. Verification Process tailoring Includes a record of all tailoring decisions e.g. How will verification be performed (e.g. will the project do code reviews?)? Validation? Reqs, Design and SW Construction?	Spreadsheet (see template ids at right)	No	See spreadhseet contents.	See XLS template: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-08-software-product-assurance/templates/CSW-QMS-2009-TPL-04681-quantitative-qap.xltx Pre-Tailored for R&D project types: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-08-software-product-assurance/templates/CSW-QMS-2013-TPL-00997-rd-pre-tailored-qap.xltx; Also see the QAP GBK (link above)	Same as Ext. QAP	Old Ids: CSW-QMS-2003-TPL-2570 (EN), CSW-QMS-2004-TPL-2755 (PT)
CMP (External Config. Mg. Plan)	Typically: CM (Project Role; PM assigns this role to a team member)	CM Process (SUP.2)	A written statement on how we intend to do  Config. Management (activities). This document is optional but if done typically is to be delivered to the customer; this doc  consolidates info in a single document some information already stated in other internal docs such as the ICMP, QAP, CIL, …	MS Word (Master template, template ID = CSW-QMS-2004-TPL-0234)	Yes	See template contents; check list contents	See template(s) and "fill in the blanks"; See CM checklist: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/SUP-support/SUP-02-configuration-management/templates/CSW-QMS-2012-TPL-00068-cm-checkup-checklist.xltx See training: https://my.critical.pt/humanresources/Documents/CSW-QMS-2016-PRS-00605-QMSVerificationProcess2016DocumentandCodeR.pptx (slides 17 and 18); helping scripts are referred there.	Optional: If DL, it is created at KO and kept up-to-date during the project (CRs/CCNs could impact this DL);	Note: This document could not be requested by the customer as deliverable (DL). Template Variants: External and Internal; pre-tailored for certain life cycles: See doc list. EN [CSW-QMS-2004-TPL-0234] {CMP} Configuration Management Plan (CMP) EN [CSW-QMS-2006-TPL-3196] {CMP} Internal CM Plan (ICMP) EN [CSW-QMS-2013-TPL-01989] {CMP} Internal Maintenance Pre-Tailored CM Plan (ICMP) EN [CSW-QMS-2013-TPL-00995] {CMP} Internal R&D Pre-Tailored CM Plan (ICMP) From <https://quality.critical.pt/SitePages/QMS-Unified/Master%20Template%20Content%20Detail%20(PT).aspx>
Internal CMP (ICMP)	CM (project role)	CM Process	The ICMP is a simpler document (when compared to the CMP) that includes the CM process tailoring decisions (what activities in the CM process are to be performed and what are not and with what formality and frequence) and the CM strategies (such as check-up strategy, build, baseline, tagging and branching strategies); it specifies the conventioned text for the TAGs to be applied at certain moments to the Version Control System (VCS).	MS Word (Master template, template ID = CSW-QMS-2006-TPL-3196; pre-tailored templates: CSW-QMS-2013-TPL-01989 (Maintenance); CSW-QMS-2013-TPL-00995 (R&D) )	Yes	See template TOC and pre-tailored templates.	See above		As seen above, there are 3 ICMP templates being generated by the MT.
CIL	Typically: CM (PM approves)	Verification Process	Contains the review strategy (usually internal). It list internal and external configuration items under configuration (built from the proposal and including CFIs received from the customer - be it software or hardware, external input docs, etc.) and for the internal, how we plan to do the reviews.	Excel Template: CSW-QMS-2007-TPL-0112	No	See spreadsheet contents; see CM check list contents;	See XLS template, instructions sheet: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/SUP-support/SUP-02-configuration-management/templates/CSW-QMS-2007-TPL-0112-configuration-items-list.xltm; See training: https://my.critical.pt/humanresources/Documents/CSW-QMS-2016-PRS-00605-QMSVerificationProcess2016DocumentandCodeR.pptx (slides 17 and 18);	At KO; aligned with the DLs (and outputs) indicated in the PRL; Typically the CM check list shall be ran before the end of each phase.	Sometimes the CIL info is included in the SVP (Software Verification Plan): The SVP might be provided by the customer or be required by regulatory standards such as ECSS with the detailed review plan (i.e. while te CIL is typically internal, we could have one additional deliverable, the SVP)
More Project Documents
SPAE Log Book	Most experienced SPAE	SPA Process (MAN.8)	A guide for the performance of Product Assurance activities, including verification check lists before milestones	Excel macro-enabled template:  CSW-QMS-2006-TPL-1226	No		See XLS, instructions sheet: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-08-software-product-assurance/templates/CSW-QMS-2006-TPL-1126-spae-log-book.xltm; See Milestone meeting prep. GBK: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-01-project-management/CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-03894-project-milestones-meetings.pdf; See training: https://my.critical.pt/humanresources/Documents/CSW-QMS-2016-PRS-00605-QMSVerificationProcess2016DocumentandCodeR.pptx (CR Monitoring is done in the SPAE log book: See slide 43)	Created at KO, updated during phases and at least once per milestone
PAR - External Product Assurance Report	SPAE (PM Approves)	SPA Process (MAN.8)	A report with several metrics collected regarding the project execution. Could be requested by the customer as a deliverable. In case of milestone meetings, the detailed quality verification is performed and the software product assurance report (PAR) is produced, reporting a sum-up of the results. Actions must be created whenever problems are identified and/or when a potential problem is identified. The PAR shall be released for all interested parties (PM and project team, and other departments such as the QD).	MS Word (Master Template, template ID = CSW-QMS-2003-TPL-1860)	No	See template TOC	See template and "fill in the blanks"	If required: Create one new PAR document per milestone (except KOM). A guide for milestone meetings (where the PAR contents could be presented) can be found here: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/MAN-management/MAN-01-project-management/CSW-QMS-2009-GBK-03894-project-milestones-meetings.pdf
Sprint Retro Log book	Scrum Master / SPAE	Agile Guidebook (to be split in Scrum/Agile Development SDP)	A book to support sprint retrospectives (which is one of the last events to take place in a Scrum/Agile sprint), with some macro integrations to speed up the collection and display of agile metrics, as well as sheets to collect lessons learned and perform action management from them...	Excel template: CSW-QMS-2014-TPL-01088	No	See spreadsheet contents	See template, namely the instructions sheet: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS PT/HLP-high-level-processes/SDP2-agile-software-development/templates/CSW-QMS-2014-TPL-01088-sprint-retrospective-workbook.xltm	See GBK: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/HLP-high-level-processes/SDP2-agile-software-development/CSW-QMS-2014-GBK-01269-agile-guidebook.pdf#search=agile%20GBK	See also the indicators and metrics GBK: https://quality.critical.pt/QMS%20PT/ORG-organisational/ORG-04-measurement-and-analysis/CSW-QMS-2014-DOC-03692-qms-indicators-metrics-dictionary.pdf#search=sprint%20retro

Product Design / System Engineering and the importance of standards - Samsung Galaxy Note 7

A very interesting article on product / system engineering / design and the importance of [international safety] standards.
From the Wall Street Journal:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/what-samsung-must-do-to-win-back-our-trust-1476218021?tesla=y

Read on and be appalled:
- There is no mandatory safety standard (in the US, in the EU) for mobile devices and since things could really catch fire (for instance on a plane) maybe there should be
- Sometimes the standards do exist but are not mandatory
- For some countries who deems a component or a phone all together suitable for a certain purpose is the company that produces it (really?)
- Components are subcontracted and due tot the secrecy involved (trade secrets are... secret), one company might not know what exactly is incorporating into its design (e.g. Batteries are certified / labeled by other companies; are all suppliers the same? Are all lots the same?)
- The problems can either come from hardware, or software but in the end, it doesn't really matter. Sometimes the recall chain is not giving you/collecting you the much needed information which is input for rework. This was a problem for Samsung (in the US) because it does not have a distribution chain in the US unlike Apple
- A compliance statements (the CE marking for instance) is just a statement by the manufacturer indicating they [think they] are compliant. Nobody checks it [before going into market - of course it will be checked after "something" goes wrong]. In fact most of the times there are no requirements for compliance testing (which is a different and safer thing, because some independent entity is analysing your work product)
- The fact that there is no word for re-recall: Because it rarely happens at such a scale, Samsung stopped the production (!). Nobody would trust on a recall of the recall. How many recalls would it take for Samsung to produce something that works properly as most products work (in terms of catching fire)?

The bottom line:
- Samsung shares are going down. There's talks of 15 K M EUR of losses.
- But worst than that: There's the image / reputation thing... Once lost it typically is like... Virginity.

So what do you think on the lack of process (and international standards) on product
/ system design? Is it a bore or is it much needed? We carry those things on the pocket of our trousers. Into planes. We are giving it to our kids...

The Biggest Software Flops of All Time - PCMag.com

Right on topic, one interesting feature from the PC Magazine site (Slideshow):

The Biggest Software Flops of All Time - Slideshow from PCMag.com

PS. Have [NOT] fun!

Quoting:
"Software is a funny thing. You can't touch it, but you can certainly pay for it. It weighs nothing, but takes dozens or even hundreds of people to make. And sometimes it just doesn't work out.

No matter how detailed your specs, how solid your market research, and how optimized your code, there are always winners and losers. Sometimes a competitor comes to market with something better. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances make your program useless or outdated. And sometimes you just screw things up to a point that no amount of patching can fix it.

In this feature, we'll crawl through the annals of computing history to showcase 10 software releases that went horribly wrong. Some of the biggest names in the industry show up here—Apple and Microsoft are both well-represented—which proves that there's always a second chance. And a third and a fourth if you play your cards right. For some of the other development houses on this list, though, their software flops sounded the death knell for their businesses."

DIGEST: And the recent links are...

And the recent relevant links are:

• The H/C (including the stalling Heli video at the end): http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/04/case-study-hums-ground-station.html

• About Waterfall SDP Phases and related process activities as weel as resulting work products:

1. http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/04/main-work-products-for-software.html
2. http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/process-software-requirements-team.html
3. http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/process-sw-design-process-and-its-main.html

• And about alternative SDPs / lifecycles like Extreme Programming (XP), Spiral Approaches and more: http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/resource-software-development-processes.html

Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC)

Interesting initiative for life-cycle support tools interoperability: Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration

For interoperability one should understand performing from one tool to another operations like Querying, Creating, Reading, Updating, Deleting (resources) and so on.

Quoting: "Exposing more data: Software should be able to share and use linked data. With OSLC specifications, your tools can freely understand each others’ data and artifacts. That means you can better analyze, track, and explore that data to make better decisions."

And furthermore quoting the OSLC Primer: "Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) is an open community creating specifications for integrating tools. These specifications allow conforming independent software and product lifecycle tools to integrate their data and workflows in support of end-to-end lifecycle processes.
OSLC is based on the W3C Linked Data. One of the primary techniques for integrating tools using OSLC is Linking data via HTTP, which specifies creating, retrieving, updating and deleting (CRUD) lifecycle artifacts based on internet standards like HTTP and RDF using Linked Data model. Each artifact in the lifecycle, such as a requirement, is an HTTP resource that is manipulated using the standard methods of the HTTP specification (like GET, POST)."

Several specs are being defined, for example "Requirements Management" ones:
http://open-services.net/bin/view/Main/RmSpecificationV2

Some compatible tools, i.e. tools that support at least some of the specs (and those include JIRA, EA and much more) are listed here:
http://open-services.net/software/

EA initial SQL scripts

The short story

The Enterprise Architect (EA) initial (SQL) scripts can be found here:
http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/resources/corporate/index.html#sql_scripts

And here are the instructions to apply it:
http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/enterprise_architect_user_guide/13.0/model_repository/upsizingtosqlserver.html

The long story

What are these good for? If you want to run EA with a centralized model (stored on a RDBMS like Oracle, MS SQL Server, MySQL and so on) you should start by install that DB and create an empty database there (CREATE DATABASE DDL).

You will be able to open an empty model from the EA tool (remote model) only after manually running this scripts on the SQL database (using the Administration tools of the DMBS or a general-purpose SQL tool like Aqua Data Studio, Squirrel SQL Client - open source, java-based, etc.).

After these initial steps you can have the full team working on the same (remote) model.
Remember: If you need permissions per package in the model you'll have to activate security.

(@2016-11-14: Added instructions link)

DIGEST: Recent links...

And the recent relevant links might as well be:

Glossary (GLS) article. Other terminology standards:

• http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/standards-terminology-standards.html

Top-level QMS/SDP Docs:

• https://quality.critical.pt/qmsunified/HLP-high-level-processes/SDP1-software-development/CSW-QMS-2002-SDP-0909-software-development.pdf#search=name%3A0909
• https://quality.critical.pt/qmsunified/HLP-high-level-processes/PLC-project-life-cycles/CSW-QMS-2003-PCS-2296-project-life-cycles.pdf#search=PLC

SDP, PLC context and some things we've been talking about:

• http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/defining-your-sdp.html
• http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/about-qms-process-areas-documentation.html
• Phases vs. Processes "mess": http://silvaonsoftware.blogspot.pt/2016/05/the-phases-vs-processes-mess.html

AOB:

• Mars missions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars
• Failed Mars Mission (ICD/ICS; Mars Climate Orbiter): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

• PPB (and PPM): https://spcorp.critical.pt/publishing/document-and-resources/148 (INTERNAL)

• A "passarada à solta": http://nainternetetal.blogspot.pt/2016/09/porque-e-que-os-passaros-nunca-colidem.html

(2017-05-17: Reformatting; PPB info)