If you want a good project, then you need to have good requirements. Having good requirements doesn’t guarantee that you’ll have a good project, but having bad requirements guarantees that you’ll have a bad project. Project Inception There is no one place that a project “comes from”. A new product/project (feature set) can come from…
Constructions (the Software Coding or Development Phase) can be broken down into several small phases. While Coding is only one part of Software Engineering, it is a large part, and part of being an engineer is being able to write good code! Preparation Make sure you understand the problem. Understand the basic design principles and…
The primary goal is to build software not models. Building models is great, but if it doesn’t get you to software being built, it’s not helping. “Travel Light” – Don’t build more models than you need. By working only on the models you are about to write software for, you minimize unnecessary work. Build it…
Communication helps you build and understand what your project is. Planning will help ensure that you can build that project. Understand the scope of the project – This lets you know where your end goal is going to be. Involve Stakeholders – Let them help identify priorities of features, potential deadlines, and even constants of…
Listen – Too often we listen to respond. We need to listen to learn from the people we’re talking to. Prepare – Do research to understand your client before you talk to them. This will make your communication more effective. Learn jargon, terms, etc. Use a facilitator – especially if there is a lot of…
“Divide and Conquer” – Break large problems down into smaller problems so that you can work toward solving a smaller, easier to manage problem. This is also called a separation of concerns. Understand the use of abstraction – Simplify complex information into something that can be conveyed in a single sentence. Strive for consistency –…
The term team is used loosely around business. The book prefers the term jelled team. The idea of a team coming together and acting as one. If team members are working together, and strongly tied to one another, then they will increase their performance and productivity. The whole is greater than the sum of the…
Obviously mastering the technical aspects of software development are important. However, hopefully as you’ve seen from the class already, there is more to it than just “coding”. The book outlines 7 traits that they feel are necessary to be a good software engineer. Individual Responsibility Works to deliver on promises they make to their peers,…
