Weekly Digest 08-42

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What vs. How

It’s common in software development circles to try to distinguish requirements from design by explaining that requirements are the “what” and design is the “how”.  This might work to a point, except that depending on your perspective, a “how” to me could just as easily be a “what” to you or vice versa.

I recently appealed to Seilevel’s Requirements Defined message board to gain further enlightenment on how folks distinguish between requirements and design. While i didn’t find the one and final answer that will finally end all discussion on the topic, I did find some interesting dialog on the topic with Karl Wiegers, Roger Cauvin and several Seilevel staff and forum regulars chiming in.

One comment that I particularly enjoyed was that the question of whether something is a “what” or a “how” is akin to asking a guy whether he is a father or a son. It all depends on the perspective of who you’re asking!

New Subscriptions

This week I wanted to share some info on two new software engineering/tech blogs to which I’ve subscribed over the past week:

• NOOP.NL -  Jurgen Appelo’s blog intends to appeal to “technical managers” or those “in danger of becoming one.”  It is “about managing technical teams, software projects and complex systems.” Jurgen recently posted a list of the Top 100 Blogs for Development Managers. I didn’t make the cut, coming in at #102, but I saw a lot of blogs I know and enjoy up there. I also found several new and interesting ones. My favorite feature, though, is his “5 Easy Questions” series. He’s queried industry heavyweights such as Alistair Cockburn, Grady Booch, Mary Poppendieck, Johanna Rothman and several others, and gotten some interesting responses.

• Esther Derby’s Insight’s You Can Use – I referenced Esther in my recent post on preparing questions for customer interviews. I have emjoyed several of her articles over the years, and have now come across her blog where she shares insight on management, agile teams, and various other topics of interest.

BABOK v1.6 Updated

The IIBA has posted an update to version 1.6 of the BABOK. While we anticipate the arrival of version 2.0, which should be released before long, version 1.6 will remain the basis for the CBAP exam for the next several months. I understand that this update is more to correct errors than to renovate the format or content.

Question for the masses

Does anyone know how Google Pagerank works? Over the past few months, I’ve gone from 3 to 5 to 4 to 3 again. I’m sure I’m not doing anything fundamentally different with my blog. Traffic has been gradually increasing, if anything. It just seems pretty random. I’m not too up-tight about it, just wondered what was the method to the madness.

Last but not least

I know this is way off topic -  but I’ve just got to share an “awesome” photo e-mailed to me a few weeks back that helps keep me grounded and to remember my place in the world – or galaxy.  If nothing else, it’s good for a laugh or two.