Archive for February, 2007
What do software developers and drug dealers have in common?
More than you might think! Check it out!
Ok, not in line with most of my content, but I got a chuckle from it, and figured others might, too. Thanks to BOSO.ME for the link.
What are you looking for in a Content Management System (CMS)?
There are currently a host of Content Management System (CMS) packages available. You can spend a fortune on purchasing a system and having it installed professionally, or you can go the open source route and do it yourself at little to no cost.
The best way to decide which package you want is to determine what you need it to do. Once you’ve established your business requirements, you may also want to find out what other “bells and whistles” are typically available in a CMS package.
The Cornell Method of Note-taking
Ok, so a lot of folks nowadays will type their meeting notes directly into their laptops, and that’s not a bad thing. It certainly saves time.
However, there are situations where the old pen and paper is not a bad thing. I, for example, am still a traditional pen-and-paper note taker. Much like in college, I [...]
Open Source Data Modeling Tools – Worth a Look!
This post is to bring attention to some open source data (and general UML) modeling tools I think are worth a look.
What’s the value of good requirements?
Numerous professional studies have shown that poorly understood software requirements are the number one cause of schedule and budget overruns and ultimately project failure. Studies have also shown that the earlier in the SDLC that scope is understood, and defects averted, the greater the cost efficiency of the project. In fact, the cost of [...]
“Party of Four” Key Considerations in Product Development
This “party of four” key considerations comes from Adam Bullied at writethatdown.com. Basic? Absolutely. Product management 101 type stuff? Yes, sir. But if you’re not including these 4 key and simple concepts in your product planning you probably ought to.
Business Analyst Job Description
So, what exactly is a Business Analyst? What is the role of the Analyst in the software development lifecycle? If you don’t want to be completely confused, don’t bother trying to get a conclusive definition by just “Googling” it. There are dozens of variations on the BA role depending on the company, and on the software engineering methodology used.
Functional Specs: Don’t write them??
“Functional specifications documents lead to an illusion of agreement. A bunch of people agreeing on paragraphs of text is not real agreement. Everyone is reading the same thing, but they’re often thinking something different.”
Great Software Engineering Proverbs
Lots of software engineering quotes and maxims. Some of them hurt to laugh at because they’re so true, some are classics, and some are just hilarious.
So, what’s it cost to fix a defect?
I know that the deeper in the project lifecycle that you go, the more expensive it becomes to fix defects, but I’ve never before dealt with a formula for calculating the actual cost of fixing a defect in dollars. I found very interesting the excerpt below from an article by Johanna Rothman entitled, fittingly, What Does It Cost to Fix a Defect?
Avoiding the “How” Trap in Requirements Authoring
One of the main challenges in drafting requirements is to state “what” the solution must entail, and not “how” the solution must be tailored. I found the excerpt below from a paper authored by Ivy Hooks very helpful.
Software Requirements “Bills of Rights”
Karl Wiegers’ Requirements Bills of Rights and Responsibilities of Software Customers are great in helping business stakeholders that are new to the requirements gathering process understand what the requirements analyst needs from them, and what they, as the customer should expect of the analyst.