Please click on the FHD tag to see all parts in this series.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to explain what this is. If you feel the information expressed in this interlude is incorrect, you probably won’t enjoy the rest of the series either.

My opinions are all based around the concept that no portion of software development is contained within its own bubble. Every piece must be interconnected or communications breakdowns will always occur. I won’t bend on that point, and I won’t deviate from it. There may be other and even better ways to keep things flowing, but they must flow naturally.

Things to get rid of – 

  1. Handoffs: There is no such thing as a handoff of work. Handoffs mean a break from one workflow and the entering of another. Handoffs are like code smells, there may be a reason for them, but they’re a sign that something is wrong.
  2. I-people: I-people or I-shaped people are singular specialists. I strong embrace, and encourage others to strongly embrace the concept of T-people at all phases of development. It’s not enough for software developers to know a little bit about the business and a little about QA, but QA and Business have to embrace the concept as well.
  3. Manual Processes: This is another smell. There are some manual processes we can not avoid, but any that we can, we should. Computers are great, they do exactly what we tell them to, but like always GIGO. If we make mistakes because we’re manually repeating a process, then bad things happen. Manual processes are the enemy. Exterminate them.

Things to embrace –

  1. Continuous Workflow: From the moment an idea comes into inception it should enter the development workflow. This idea would be vetted by the business unit, crystallized and naturally flow into the other processes, which will be outlined in detail. The workflow is not bunch of individual stops in committee, it is a river of ideas.
  2. T-people: There is no reason for someone to have their head buried in one subject so deeply that they aren’t even aware of ancillary concerns. This series will deeply cover how to expand the understanding of each and every business unit. across the breadth of the software lifecycle.
  3. Automated Processes: There is no single business unit that escapes the advantages of automation and computerized tracking. Putting in the right tools and using them correctly will drastically reduce friction, embrace an easier life.
This primer, along with part one which defines the business units involved, will act as guides to how this series will grow. In large part they’re for my own benefit, getting my thoughts gathered together before I launch into the formal workflow. I hope they also act as a clear signifier as to whether or not this series is of interest to you, the reader.