dimanche 9 août 2009

Lean Software Development and Features Injection

I recently discovered 'Feature injection' and started to apply it in my daily work for part of the project. So far I really enjoyed it and did not find a major flaw in the process.
Lean Software Development resonate as common sense, organized way of getting the work done efficiently.

Here is what I retained of it:
1- WHY? : Find the value that you want your product to generate for your user, generally this value allows the user to save time or money, gain productivity, have fun, or event better: be really good at what he is doing using your product ("kick ass user of Y").

2- WHAT? : What are the outputs that represent or give this value to the user ?

3- HOW? : How do you process to get these outputs ? which features produce them ? what are the inputs needed? Build the model during analysis, list all questions and answers, some questions may get an answer later in the process.

At this point we have :
OUTPUTs <- Feature(Process + Model) <- INPUTs

4- Write Feature Tests : for each feature injected we can implement the tests that will pass when the feature is done

5- Analysis and Design of features allow us to Write Unit Tests

6- Implement code to green our Unit Tests, then our Feature Tests : at this point the features that are DONE are ready for final review and release in production

The implementation followed the inverse direction of the analysis so we implemented only what was really needed to produce the outputs that have a value for the user.

Only the necessary features were injected into the system!

mercredi 15 juillet 2009

The quest of beauty out of the box

In my software engineering work as in all my creations, I want to create beauty. It's the common quest of all creative human beings, I guess. This quest gives a meaning to my actions. I appreciate to create and invent things that I can be proud of and to achieve that I have to let my passion for beautiful creation express itself. Every day I try to remember that no matter what I'm doing I can do it in a way that fullfill my needs to create, innovate, build, enhance. I truly believe that the more beauty you create, the more you receive/see.

It goes the same with happiness: the more happy you make others, the more you are happy yourself !
Ok, easy to say harder to actually do. But if I remind to stay out of the box (when will the french translation of "Anatomy of peace" - Arbinger, will come out ?), life is clearer and much more enjoyable.
At work, with my family and friends, if I manage to stay out of the box, I feel that I can be really myself and feel good about what I am and what I do. Never betray yourself and you'll be happy. Understand your feelings and you'll be able to go out of the box and stay out !
Sounds simple too, I will read and reread again "Anatomy of peace", this book was really a keystone for my life and how I see the world of human beings.

Read you later, I have to create some new nice things today to keep my creative mind happy !

dimanche 14 juin 2009

Argumentation or Collaborative thinking

Something I'm not missing at all since I work in California is the apparent need for french workers to argue and win the argument.
For example, in our US company, when we are in a technical meeting, the common goal for everyone is to come up collectively with the best solution for the product we are building. In France the individual goal for each of the participant would be to expose its arguments and argue until they are accepted by the others or until they surrender : the goal is to win the argument ! The product interest is almost completely out of the picture !

The collaborative approach has obviously a very good impact on the quality of the product, in the team spirit, in the sustainability of the efforts that will be deployed to achieve the common goal.
Another great side effect of the collaborative approach vs the arguing one, is that the focus is on the ideas and their suitability to the project/goal, therefore the 'ego' of each participant remains out of the target of the argumentation. If I'm not theatened in my self-estim/ego, I can feel free to suggest new ideas to feed the discussion thus the discussion is richer and more productive.

This leads me to one of the best discovery I've made while working at Veodia : it is actually possible to be recognized and appreciated for your skills and work by your colleague ! Coming after 10 years working in french companies, it sounds revolutionnary. The first time I received an appreciation email from one of my colleague, it completely blew my mind. Since then, I've felt free to express my appreciation of my colleagues work and free as well to express my concerns about it without being afraid of their reaction.
This is an enormous liberation and way of progress. Seeing thing positively, expressing your appreciation of one's work made me feel that I could grow professionnaly in a very happy way.

That spirit made me feel eager to join the team every morning to continue the adventure of building our platform : the joy to go to work !

Update: just read great article on pair programming http://misko.hevery.com/2009/06/12/what-pair-programing-is-not/

lundi 8 juin 2009

Generalizing specialist objectives

New objectives to grow my skills in the art of software development :
- Implement executable tests first at every level : acceptance. functional, unit
cf. "Changing roles"
cf. "Functional TDD"
- Executable tests of UI layer as well as underlying layers
- Continue to become a better generalizing specialist : cf. "Generalizing specialist"

Implementing executable tests first, leads to :
- better understanding of requirements (acceptance tests)
- better design of functionalities (functional tests)
- better design and implementation (unit tests)
Making them executable brings :
- easier regression testing
- better maintainability

That makes a great program for an enthusiast software engineer
eager to become a better generalizing specialist !

mardi 28 avril 2009

UI Model and separation of concern

While reading the excellent "Beautiful Architecture", I found the concepts used by LPS Creator Studio around UI and UI Model very interesting. So I started the implementation of a sample actionscript framework to validate my feelings about this architecture.
So far, I've created Properties (StringProperty, BooleanProperty, CommandProperty) and one form (RegistrationForm). I also started a RegistrationCanvas which represents the 'screen'part : pure UI, no behavior.

The UI elements on the screen are driven through binding to the form and its properties so the UI can stay 'dumb'.
The form gathers the properties and is in charge of the UI business logic : validation, flow, command launching.

I like the separation of concerns that this architecture brings and the fact that it will allow to write unit tests easily for the UI model.