Society Wants Higher Quality Software Development

Computer Society Wants Higher Quality Software Development

At the recent NZCS Programming Good Practice (PGP) session held at Peace Software the 60 programmers present were asked to rank topics. "It is clear that "Code 'n Fix" is still the most common way to develop software." says Ian Mitchell, the stream leader. Insufficient people are using proven methodologies like Rational's RUP or more trendy techniques like Extreme Programming.

Perhaps the complexity and cost of RUP is an issue? Are customers willing to pay the price of high quality software? Or is the per seat pricing of good tools (and training) not translated to the New Zealand market recognising the difference in purchasing power between NZ and the USA?

Techniques like Extreme Programming are becoming more important - both customers and development staff need to appreciate the rigour that is inherent in the method. It also acknowledges the intelligence and competencies of experienced developers. XP may be more appropriate to NZ's smaller teams of 20 or less.

The NZCS is focused on raising the professional competencies of all developers.

The topics below are ranked and will be addressed in future sessions of the PGP stream and the XP stream.

Test Before code – Thinking from the Outside Inwards. 1 XP
Usability – How will you know your human interface works? 2 PGP How
to go from High Level Design to Low Level Design –
Componentisation. 2 PGP
UML – will it solve your problems? 4 PGP
Coding standards – how valuable are they? How to get them adopted
and
used! 5 PGP
Quality Assurance – Is it possible? 6 PGP
What makes good code? Can code “smell”? 7 XP
Strategies for Maintaining Code in the Field. 8 PGP
Refactoring – when to re-write your code. 8 XP
Pair Programming – will it work for you? 8 XP
Code Inspections – How, and do they work? 11 PGP
Writing Maintainable 3-tier code. 11 PGP
JavaDoc – Can code be self-documenting? 13 XP
Stored Procedures in SQL – do they lead to more maintainability? 13
Exception Handling – When, How, and What should the user see? 15 XP
Patterns – Are they for real? 15 Building Unbreakable Builds. 17
PGP Test Harnesses in 3-tier architecture and GUI-intensive
applications.
18
Complex queries in SQL – and what about performance? 19
How valuable are Coverage and Performance tools? 20

The Auckland Branch PGP stream meets every 3rd Thursday at 6pm at Peace Software.

The XP stream meets every 1st Thursday at 6pm at TMP WorldWide.

For further information contact:

Ian Mitchell, FNZCS Ph: +64 9 528-3350 Mobile: +64 25 965-608 http://www.aboutit.co.nz http://www.xp.co.nz

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