SW Architecture and Design (diagrams): Kroki!

A speedier way of doing analysis diagrams? Something to try.

Quoting: 

Creates diagrams from textual descriptions!

Kroki provides a unified API with support for BlockDiag (BlockDiag, SeqDiag, ActDiag, NwDiag, PacketDiag, RackDiag), BPMN, Bytefield, C4 (with PlantUML), Ditaa, Erd, Excalidraw, GraphViz, Mermaid, Nomnoml, PlantUML, SvgBob, UMLet, Vega, Vega-Lite, WaveDrom... and more to come!

Kroki!

SW Development: MISRA Coding Standards

An article (from a tool provider, not affiliated) on MISRA C and C++ coding standards and some example rules:

https://www.perforce.com/resources/qac/misra-c-cpp

SW Testing: Print Screens?

Oh, did I ever tell you you need to take (efficiently) print screens while (manual) testing? Some ideas towards productivity:
https://www.pcmag.com/feature/370572/how-to-take-screenshots-in-windows-10

PS: Also do not forget the utility "mouse without borders" also crucial for testers (with 2 or more PCs and just one mouse).

Documentation: Tracked changes in Google Docs?

Yes. It's called suggestions. Share with Edit permissions. Uncheck the email notifications. Much like MS  Office, comments also exist in Google Docs as well as a Compare option in tools and a revision history (with human readable names that can be set by the user):
https://www.pcmag.com/article/330137/tip-how-to-use-track-changes-in-google-docs

Missing TBC: The Combine (with generated inline tracked changes) option, much useful to know what words changed between 2 revisions when someone forgot (or "forgot") to start tracking changes. If you have PDF versions attempt a conversion of PDF to docx and then combine (Office does it).

Documentation IS part of the configuration of a software so, do learn to use productivity tools. This is why it's called productivity tools.

SW Construction: The bots that help improving Facebook's Code - IEEE Spectrum

Meet the Bots That Review and Write Snippets of Facebook's Code - IEEE Spectrum



Quoting:

"A null pointer exception is like having the address to a house that was never built. It means a programmer has referred to an object that doesn’t actually exist because it was never described in the code. Null pointers are extremely common and relatively easy to fix—easy enough to be boring, in fact.

Unfortunately, the tedious work of finding and fixing errors like these still takes up much of a developer’s time and mental energy. A 2016 evaluation of 1,000 Android apps [PDF] found that null pointers caused more crashes than any other kind of error, including illegal arguments, array index out of bounds exceptions, and bad tokens.

To make its developers’ jobs more rewarding, Facebook is now using two automated tools called Sapienz and SapFix to find and repair low-level bugs in its mobile apps. Sapienz runs the apps through many tests to figure out which actions will cause it to crash. Then, SapFix recommends a fix to developers, who review it and decide whether to accept the fix, come up with their own, or ignore the problem. "
(...)
"Facebook’s developers make more than 100,000 commits every week, and the Facebook app for Android contains millions of lines of code. Sapienz runs hundreds of emulators around the clock to review code before and after it’s shipped, conducting tens of thousands of tests every day. "

TOOL: Git Sparse Checkout

Git repos are cloned fully. And your disk space goes down the drain in this process (if you're working in a lot of complex projects). What if you need only a set of files from a repo? You can use a client (like the web-based bitbucket) to locate and download (one by one). Or enter Git Sparse Checkout:

Using Git Sparse Checkout

TOOLS: Airtable - Online collaboration tool for teams

Collaboration tools can avoid customer development. A new one around is:
https://try.airtable.com/mobile?utm_source=airtable_shared_view

Quoting:

"The all-in-one collaboration platform. Say goodbye to rigid, inflexible tools. With Airtable, ambitious teams get their best work done, their way." (so they say ;) ) 

SDK: Guardium SDK for neighborhood security?

https://securityintelligence.com/neighborhood-watch-uniting-the-data-security-community-through-software-development-kits/

Quoting:
"A Neighborhood Watch for the Data Security Community

Today, there are four use case categories of interest for which we are prompting business partners to build apps: risk discovery and classification, new data sources and platforms supported for data protection, big data aggregation and analytics, and industry-focused compliance solutions. These four use cases can be addressed in a variety of ways.

For example, apps can be built to present a combination of internal and external data in tables or visualizations. They can also integrate data from external products or services for better analytics and/or compliance. In addition, apps can be built to host security rules or highlight anomalous activities and send reports to an external source.

The final piece of the puzzle is the skills and expertise of the business partners and developers themselves. Without collaboration from those who are looking for new challenges and innovative ways to contribute to the data security community at large, we can’t move forward. Much like the Neighborhood Watch, the security world needs to band together as a community to ensure that data privacy and security principles are upheld.

So what are you waiting for? To get started, download the Guardium SDK."

More info:

https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/hub/extension/cd46ff5905e6709be66ab814da9eabb4?cm_mc_uid=78223798062015236497989&cm_mc_sid_50200000=44250091523649799017

Quoting:
"IBM X-Force Exchange is a threat intelligence sharing platform that you can use to research security threats, to aggregate intelligence, and to collaborate with peers.

Logged in users have integrated access to all the functionality of the site: searching, commenting, Collections and sharing. Guests can search and view reports only."

TOOL: Coco Code Coverage

Multiple-platform/compiler code coverage tool:
https://www.froglogic.com/coco/free-trial/

Quoting:
"Coco

Cross-platform and cross-compiler code coverage analysis for C, C++, C#, SystemC, Tcl and QML code.

Coco utilizes source code instrumentation to analyze the applications’ source code.

No changes to the source code are necessary.

Executing a test suite against an instrumented application produces data that can later be analyzed. This analysis can be used to understand how much of the source code has been hit by tests, which additional tests need to be written, how the code coverage changed over time and more."

SW Development: Visual Studio vs. Rider (IDE, TOOLS)

An article by the great and not late Mr. Peres (which you might have heard about before):
https://stackify.com/visual-studio-rider/

Citando:
"In the beginning there was Visual Studio. For many years, it was essentially the only tool that offered a comprehensive IDE with useful functionality that could be used for enterprise-level .NET development. Other tools existed, of course, but they were generally no match for Visual Studio.

In recent years, this landscape has somewhat changed: we now have Visual Studio Code, MonoDevelop, SharpDevelop and, more recently, JetBrains Rider. Not all of these are free or open source, and, in general, this shows up in the quality of the tool or the features it offers. This is not to say that open source does not offer high quality stuff – I have been an advocate of NHibernate for years – but only that companies that can spend money in having full time developers working on something usually benefit from that."

TOOL: Statistical Analyis - Oracle Crystal Ball (Monte Carlo simulation)

Not free, but one very widely used tool for analyzing and improving Process Performance Models (PPM) using Monte Carlo simulations:

• Oracle Crystal Ball - license - 1 application user

Quoting:

"Oracle Crystal Ball is the leading spreadsheet-based application suite for predictive modeling, forecasting, simulation, and optimization. It gives you unparalleled insight into the critical factors affecting risk. With Crystal Ball, you can make the right tactical decisions to reach your objectives and gain a competitive edge under even the most uncertain market conditions.

Using Monte Carlo simulation, Oracle Crystal Ball automatically calculates and records the results of thousands of different "what if" cases. Analysis of these scenarios reveals to you the range of possible outcomes, their probability of occurring, the inputs that most impact your model, and where you should focus your efforts. Oracle Crystal Ball is for strategic planners, financial analysts, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, CPAs, marketing managers, venture capitalists, consultants, six sigma professionals, and anyone else who uses spreadsheets to forecast uncertain results."

BOOK: Introduction to Statistical Quality Control (Douglas C. Montgomery)

AKA as "the bible" for statistical concepts (now in the 7th edition):

• Statistical Quality Control: Douglas C. Montgomery: 9781118146811: Amazon.com: Books (7th edition)
• Amazon.com: Introduction to Statistical Quality Control (0352030000810): Douglas C. Montgomery: Books (6th edition) 

Quoting: 

"The trusted guide to the statistical methods for quality control.

Quality control and improvement is more than an engineering concern. Quality has become a major business strategy for increasing productivity and gaining competitive advantage. Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, Sixth Edition gives you a sound understanding of the principles of statistical quality control (SQC) and how to apply them in a variety of situations for quality control and improvement.

With this text, you'll learn how to apply state-of-the-art techniques for statistical process monitoring and control, design experiments for process characterization and optimization, conduct process robustness studies, and implement quality management techniques.

You'll appreciate the significant updates in the Sixth Edition including:
* In-depth attention to DMAIC, the problem-solving strategy of Six Sigma. It will give you an excellent framework to use in conducting quality improvement projects.
* New examples that illustrate applications of statistical quality improvement techniques in non-manufacturing settings. Many examples and exercises are based on real data.
* New developments in the area of measurement systems analysis
* New features of Minitab V15 incorporated into the text

* Numerous new examples, exercises, problems, and techniques to enhance your absorption of the material"

PS. Now minitab is at V18. Minitab is a statistical package software (similar to SPSS).

TOOL: Free Pascal (compliler) and Lazarus (IDE)

Free Pascal is still being used actively to teach programming skills to youngsters, I have recently learned. It is free as the name implies and includes a text-based IDE (for those who remember what that was:  Borland Turbo Pascal).

For download and documentation see:

• Free Pascal documentation index: https://www.freepascal.org/docs.var
• If interested also make sure to read about Lazarus (a free GUI-based IDE): http://wiki.freepascal.org/Lazarus_Documentation
• ... and Virtual Pascal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Pascal

Turbo Pascal is nowadays freely downloadable in the Embarcadero site (which bought Borland) and still releases Delphi (an evolution of the Turbo Pascal IDE and the Object Pascal language for Graphical User Interfaces:

• http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/20792  
• "Freeware release: Borland released several versions of Turbo Pascal as freeware after they became "antique software" (abandonware) in 2002. The newest released international version was TP 5.5, while the newer French TP 7.01 was also released as freeware.The downloads are still available on the successor website of Embarcadero Technologies." (Source: Wikipedia)

SW Design: Recursos sobre e para usabilidade (de sítios Web)

Usability resources (in PT), for PT public sector web sites, FFR: 
https://usabilidade.gov.pt/

Quoting:
"Recursos e ferramentas para melhorar a experiência de utilização de sítios públicos.

Boas práticas, código, design e templates abertos para descarregar e implementar."

Usability Check list (PT, quoted from above, interesting even though some items -e.g. see the Design section- are not completely specific):

1. DESEMPENHO

•  
  A página tem um tempo de carregamento adequado.
•  
  O contraste entre o fundo e a fonte do texto é adequado.
•  
  O tamanho e estilo da tipografia são nítidos e fáceis de ler.
•  
  O sítio está preparado para gerar páginas de erro perceptíveis. (i.e. 404 - Página não encontrada, etc.)
•  
  Os conteúdos estão otimizados para dispositivos móveis.

2. NAVEGABILIDADE

•  
  Existem ajudas visuais que identifiquem a localização na estrutura do sitio. (i.e. Breadcrumbs, etc.)
•  
  Os serviços disponíveis do sitio estão devidamente assinaladas e identificadas.
•  
  Os links são consistentes e fáceis de serem identificados.
•  
  Os links são claros e identificam o destino.
•  
  As páginas do sitio estão identificadas e nomeadas. (i.e. nome da página que surge no navegador)
•  
  O sitio está preparado para compatibilidade com todos os navegadores. (i.e.Cross browser)
•  
  O url da página é claro e facilmente memorizável.
•  
  É possível aceder diretamente à página principal em qualquer zona do sitio. (i.e. homepage link)
•  
  O botão Voltar está sempre presente nas páginas.
•  
  Os elementos clicáveis estão claramente identificados como passíveis de ser acionados.

3. DESIGN

•  
  O design é intuitivo e apelativo.
•  
  O design está preparado para todos os dispositivos de navegação. (i.e. web design responsivo)

4. FORMULÁRIOS E MENSAGENS

•  
  As mensagens de erro são claras e percetíveis.
•  
  Os formulários funcionam corretamente (São apresentadas mensagens de submissão com sucesso ou de erro).
•  
  Os campos obrigatórios estão devidamente assinalados.

5. ORGANIZAÇÃO DA INFORMAÇÃO

•  
  A organização das páginas do sitio é consistente através de toda a estrutura. (i.e. estilo de navegação e arrumação do conteúdo).
•  
  Os ícones representam claramente as suas ações e têm a propriedade ALT definida.
•  
  A informação relevante encontra-se destacada.
•  
  O espaçamento entre linhas é adequado.
•  
  Os textos estão redigidos de acordo com a perspectiva do cidadão destinatário do serviço.
•  
  Os títulos são claros e coerentes com o conteúdo.
•  
  Não existem anúncios ou pop-ups intrusivos.

6. DISPONIBILIZAÇÃO DE SERVIÇOS

•  
  Existe informação sobre as várias fases do processo.
•  
  A ajuda é clara e está perfeitamente visivel.
•  
  A informação é simples e objetiva.

TOOLS: Java Code Coverage Tools

The "fun-tastic" list of tools from our favourite non-trustworthy list of resources (but yet still useful as a starting point for further investigation):

• Java Code Coverage Tools - Wikipedia

TOOLS: Continuous Code Quality | SonarQube

Continuous Code Quality | SonarQube

Quoting:
"Continuous Inspection. SonarQube provides the capability to not only show health of an application but also to highlight issues newly introduced. With a Quality Gate in place, you can fix the leak and therefore improve code quality systematically"

TOOLS: Parasoft C/C++test (Static Analysis)

https://www.parasoft.com/press/release-code-wizard/

Quoting [1999]:

"CodeWizard for C++ v. 3.0, the newest version of their automatic coding standards enforcement tool. CodeWizard offers serious developers and managers a solution for preventing errors during all stages of the development cycle. Development managers committed to delivering bug-free software have found CodeWizard a valuable tool because it helps keep down the number of errors that enter a project and saves time. CodeWizard acts as an automatic code reviewer that enforces a set of coding standards. Developers who follow coding standards can reduce the number of errors in their projects, as well as make their code easier to reuse, modify and maintain. The newest version of CodeWizard will be extremely useful to development managers because it now features RuleWizard, which allows users to quickly create custom coding standards. "Thankfully it is the code reviewer without the attitude," says Suzette LaGray, Senior Software Engineer at Siemens ElectroCom LLP. "It knows all the rules." Using patented Source Code Analysis technology (patent # 5,860,011), CodeWizard looks for coding standard violations. It automatically enforces over 70 coding standards that come from industry experts such as Scott Meyers and Stanley Lippman. With the addition of RuleWizard, development groups will be more successful at enforcing in-house coding standards. RuleWizard allows users to compose and modify coding standards (or "rules") by graphically expressing the pattern that they want CodeWizard to look for when it parses code. Rules are created by selecting a main "node", then adding additional elements to a flow-chart-like representation until it fully expresses the pattern that constitutes a violation of the rule. Rules can be specified by option, command line, or named rules"

Parasoft C/C++test - Wikipedia

Quoting:

"Parasoft C/C++test is an integrated set of tools for testing C and C++ source code that software developers use to analyze, test, find defects, and measure the quality and security of their applications. It supports software development practices that are part of development testing, including static code analysis , dynamic code analysis, unit test case generation and execution, code coverage analysis, regression testing, runtime error detection, requirements traceability, and code review. It's a commercial tool that supports operation on Linux, Windows, and Solaris platforms as well as support for on-target embedded testing and cross compilers."

TOOLS: Mocking Frameworks for .Net Developers (LIST)

Top 5 Mocking Frameworks for .Net Developers

Quoting:
"What is a Mocking Framework?
Mocking framework is used to create replacement objects like Fakes, Stubs and Mocks. It is used to isolate each dependency and help developers in performing unit testing in a concise, quick and reliable way.
Creating mock objects manually is difficult and time-consuming so to increase your productivity you can go for automatic generating of mock objects by using a mocking framework. A developer can build his/her unit test by using any of one NUnit, MbUnit, MSTest, xUnit etc. unit test framework and can further test it on a mocking framework."

The list:

1. http://nmock3.codeplex.com/SourceControl/latest
2. https://github.com/FakeItEasy/FakeItEasy/
3. https://github.com/moq/Moq/
4. https://github.com/RhinoMocks/RhinoMocks
5. http://nsubstitute.github.io/

TOOL: IBM Rational Logiscope (Static Analysis, Dynamic Testing)

FFR:

IBM Rational Logiscope is (amongst other things) a static analysis tool for C, C++, Java, and Ada.

Quoting:

"IBM Rational Logiscope tackles software quality head-on, providing a comprehensive suite of highly customizable static and dynamic testing tools to ensure that:

1. Latent bugs and faulty constructs are detected and eliminated
2. Software complies with required coding standards, whether they are personal standards, internal standards, or industry standards such as MISRA.
3. Complex and error-prone areas of code are identified at the earliest stage and corrective actions are taken.
4. Code review is automated and effort is focused on problematic area helping you adopt verification processes that are described by international standards such as SEI/CMMi, ISO/IEC 9216 and 9001, DO-178B, IEC 61508, EN 50128.
5. Unnecessary duplicated code blocks are identified and removed, therefore optimizing your testing effort and maintenance effort over time.
6. Testing is both comprehensive and efficient by identifying untested pieces of code. "

(...)

"The proven verification capabilities of IBM Rational Logiscope help you optimize expensive development resources to reliably deliver on-time, on-budget, and to specification.

IBM Rational Logiscope currently supports four programming languages: C, C++, Java, and Ada. It is available on Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms and includes four different products:

• IBM Rational Logiscope RuleChecker, for code rule checking
• IBM Rational Logiscope QualityChecker, for code quality metrics
• IBM Rational Logiscope Code Reducer, for finding code similarities
• IBM Rational Logiscope TestChecker, for dynamic test coverage analysis

IBM Rational Logiscope RuleChecker V6.6 introduces support for MISRA C++ code rules checking, allowing organization to comply with this industry-standard set of rules. IBM Rational Logiscope RuleChecker now allows verifying MISRA code rules on code generated by IBM Rational Rhapsody."

TOOL: Mapping between Enterprise Architect 12.1 menus and Enterprise Architect 13 ribbons

EA 12 to EA 13 changed locations of actions (menu)... To help you through the upgrade there is this very good resource:
Mapping between Enterprise Architect 12.1 menus and Enterprise Architect 13 ribbons