Software Architecture or Design

Tutorials

Rob Myers, Agile Institute

Mon, 11/10/2014 - 1:00pm

Test-driven development (TDD) is a powerful technique for combining software design, unit testing, and coding in a continuous process to increase reliability and produce better code design. Using the TDD approach, developers write programs in very short development cycles: first the developer writes a failing automated test case that defines a new function or improvement, then produces code to pass that test, and finally refactors the new code to acceptable standards. The developer repeats this process many times until the behavior is complete and fully tested.

TG Software Design for Testability

Peter Zimmerer, Siemens AG

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 8:30am

Testability is the degree to which a system can be effectively and efficiently tested. This key software attribute indicates whether testing (and subsequent maintenance) will be easy and cheap—or difficult and expensive. In the worst case, a lack of testability means that some components of the system cannot be tested at all. Testability is not free; it must be explicitly designed into the system through adequate design for testability.

TM Innovation Thinking: Evolve and Expand Your Capabilities NEW

Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 1:00pm

Innovation is a word frequently tossed around in organizations today. The standard cliché is “Do more with less.” People and teams want to be innovative but often struggle with how to define, prioritize, implement, and track their innovation efforts. Jennifer Bonine shares the Innovation Types model to give you new tools to evolve and expand your innovation capabilities. Find out if your innovation ideas and efforts match your team and company goals. Learn how to classify your innovation and improvement efforts as core (to the business) or context (essential but non-revenue generating).

Concurrent Sessions

BW3 This Is Not Your Father's Career: Advice for the Modern Information Worker

James Whittaker, Microsoft

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 11:30am

In an era where college dropouts run successful companies and creative entrepreneurs out-earn corporate vice presidents, working smart is clearly the new working hard. James Whittaker turns on their head the career rules that guided past generations and provides a new career manual for working smarter that speaks to the need for creativity, innovation, and insight. James teaches a set of skills designed for the modern era of working for companies, both big and small.

BW7 You Said What? Becoming Aware of the Things We Say

Doc List, Doc List Enterprises

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 1:30pm

Most of us take language for granted. We use words without thinking about how they may affect others and then are surprised at the reaction we get. Learn the importance of language in building and maintaining high performing agile teams. Become more aware of the words you choose and the impact of those words on your listeners. Doc List presents a series of exercises in a game show format. Participants attempt to identify loaded words in seemingly simple statements and questions. Some of the exercises are written; others are acted out in role play.

BW9 Gamification and Arbejdsglæde (Danish: Work Gladness/Joy)

Ryan Kleps, Boeing IT

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 2:45pm

You get paid for doing that? Is it possible to both work and have fun in a large corporate setting? Can joy be made part of the workplace? For the past few years Ryan Kleps and his colleagues have been conducting an informal social experiment using gamification (before they knew it had a name) in their corporate training modules to encourage participation, engagement, and enjoyment.

BW10 Non-Functional Requirements: Forgotten, Neglected, and Misunderstood

Paul Reed, EBG Consulting

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 2:45pm

Implementing non-functional requirements is essential to build the right product. Yet teams often struggle with when and how to discover, specify, and test these requirements. Many teams neglect non-functional requirements up front, considering them less important or unrelated to user requirements; other teams specify them incompletely or with untestable and non-measurable attributes.

BW11 You, Inc.: Building Your Personal Brand

Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 2:45pm

Building the right personal brand is one of the most critical success factors in today’s workplace. Organizations develop a brand and image, but not many individuals think about their brand on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media outlets. Every person with career aspirations should be actively shaping their brand. As we interact with people, we want to influence them to support our efforts—approving projects, budgets, and funding; supporting our next career move; or recommending us for that promotion or raise we want.

BW12 The Coming Mobile Wearable World

Philip Lew, XBOSoft

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 2:45pm

For better or for worse, like it or not, mobile wearables are already changing our lives. Combined with social media, mobile wearable devices form a new generation of personalized technology that knows us better than our closest friends. How many of your friends know how far you walked or what you ate? The challenge for developing applications is correctly incorporating context to add value your users hadn’t considered while being sensitive to their privacy.

BT2 Emergent Design: History, Concepts, and Principles

Rob Myers, Agile Institute

Thu, 11/13/2014 - 10:00am

Software design is about change. A good design facilitates adding features—and adding new developers to the team. Yet any change to the code impacts design and could damage existing functionality. Without design idioms and practices, the code can degrade into a "big ball of spaghetti” and a maintenance nightmare. Your team must know which decisions to make early in design and which to defer. Rob Myers reviews “families” of design attributes and practices, showing the common principles within each.

BT3 Cloud Computing: Yes, It Will Radically Change Your World

Mike Wood, Red Gate Software

Thu, 11/13/2014 - 10:00am

You can't read a technology article these days without some mention of "the cloud." Many have labeled it the next sea-change in the industry; others point out that the model has been around for ages. Regardless of its origins, the cloud certainly does change things. But the bigger question is: Does it really change things for you? The only way to answer that question is to understand the possibilities the cloud provides.

BT6 Avoiding Over Design and Under Design

Al Shalloway, Net Objectives

Thu, 11/13/2014 - 11:30am

The question of how much design to do up-front on a project is an engaging conundrum. Too much design often results in excess complexity and wasted effort. Too little design results in a poor architecture or insufficient system structures which require expensive rework and hurt more in the long run. So, how can we know the right balance of upfront design work and emerging design approaches? Al Shalloway shows how to use design patterns—coupled with agile’s attitude of “don’t build what you don’t need”—to guide your design efforts.

BT10 Service Virtualization: Speed Up Delivery and Improve Quality

Anne Hungate, DIRECTV

Robb Kelman, DIRECTV

Thu, 11/13/2014 - 1:30pm

“We could not test this because…” Every technology professional has experienced issues during system testing when unit testing was overlooked or cut short. Every project team has hit roadblocks during system testing when dependent systems or complicated data have been unavailable. Service virtualization is a tool that eliminates the waiting and the excuses, making thorough and complete unit and system testing realistic. Done well, service virtualization improves defect detection and resolution in every phase of a project—driving down cost while improving quality.

BT13 Managing Technological Diversity: Avoid Boiling the Ocean

Katy Douglass, Nationwide Financial

Thu, 11/13/2014 - 3:00pm

Drop everything! We need to regression test the newest browser version. Apple just released a new device and iOS. We need to test our site on IE11 with Windows 8.1. Sound familiar? The number of technologies our software products must be compatible with has grown exponentially, and the market is adopting new technologies with ever-increasing speed. So, how do we manage the diversity of technology with which our software products must be compatible? Katy Douglass shares Nationwide Financial’s story of transforming their reactive processes into proactive processes that anticipate change.