(Well actually a bunch of hiking stories) Do large teams bog-down, do delays propagate, is specialization harmful or desirable? In today's knowledge-worker environment we process intangible information rather than physical products, and so seeing the impact of good and bad... Mike Griffiths

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#REDIRECT [[Public_Writing_Effective_Use_Cases_Course,_September_2008]]

Revision as of 21:28, 1 August 2008 Current revision Line 9: Line 9: '''Course Title:''' ''Writing Effective Use Cases'' '''Course Title:''' ''Writing Effective Use Cases'' -'''Cost:''' $1,600 per person+'''Cost:'''  +: $1,600 per person  +: 15% discount ($1,360 per person) for non-profits and government agencies  +: 15% discount ($1,360 per person) for 3+ people from the same company  +: 25% discount ($1,200 per person) for 8+ people from the same company '''Contact:''' Alistair Cockburn, mailto:acockburn@aol.com, 801-582-3162 '''Contact:''' Alistair Cockburn, mailto:acockburn@aol.com, 801-582-3162

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#redirect [[Public Writing Effective Use Cases Course, September 2008]]

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This is for discussing the new site. Any level of comment is welcome, from "I can't understand it" to "move the thingy 5 pixels to the left", to ...

thanks.
----

New page

Apologies to everyone for the broken site right now. The hosting company evidently "upgraded" its software so it no longer supports funny characters in URLs, which breaks my site enormously.

We are in the midst of converting to our new site, hopefully only a few weeks away. Converting Media Wiki markup into Textile Markup has been a horrendous chore and maybe a bad idea (but we only are finding this out about 80% of the way through :(.

If you want to take a peek at it, take a look at it at
http://acdev.topthought.com

Post any comments, wishes, observations, complaints, etc there on the page there called Site Comments, or here on the Discussion page called
[[Talk:New site comments]].

thanks

Revision as of 16:14, 29 July 2008 Current revision Line 3: Line 3: Read your [http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/CrossTalk/2008/08/0808Cockburn.html Good Ole Advice] article in the August Crosstalk. An intereasting read, especially considering its juxtaposition to Watts Humphrey's article. Read your [http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/CrossTalk/2008/08/0808Cockburn.html Good Ole Advice] article in the August Crosstalk. An intereasting read, especially considering its juxtaposition to Watts Humphrey's article. --[[User:DSParillo|DSParillo]] 08:14, 29 July 2008 (MDT) --[[User:DSParillo|DSParillo]] 08:14, 29 July 2008 (MDT)  +  +(Thanks, Dave).  +  +p.s. apologies to everyone for the broken site right now. The hosting company evidently "upgraded" its software so it no longer supports funny characters in URLs, which breaks my site enormously.  +  +We are in the midst of converting to our new site, hopefully only a few weeks away. Converting Media Wiki markup into Textile Markup has been a horrendous chore and maybe a bad idea (but we only are finding this out about 80% of the way through :(.  +  +If you want to take a peek at it, take a look at it at  +http://acdev.topthought.com  +  +Post any comments, wishes, observations, complaints, etc there on the page there called Site Comments, or here on the page called  +[[Talk:New Site Comments]].  +  +thanks

Revision as of 15:49, 29 July 2008 Current revision Line 24: Line 24: | | Consider looking at: Consider looking at:  +* The [[Public Writing Effective Use Cases Course, September 2008]] * The 2-day [[Writing Effective Use Cases course]] * The 2-day [[Writing Effective Use Cases course]] * [[Special:Newpages|Recent new pages]] * [[Special:Newpages|Recent new pages]]

Last week I attended the APLN Leadership Summit in Seattle. It was a great event and while I was disappointed I did not get to learn more about Real Options and iteration-less Kanban (because I was busy hosting a competing... Mike Griffiths

Suspected typo leads to unclear meaning

Revision as of 19:18, 15 July 2008 Current revision Line 42: Line 42: p.s. Thanks for signing your name to the above posting --- as a matter of courtesy, this is a discussion zone where real names should be used, and I appreciate your doing it. Thanks, Alistair. p.s. Thanks for signing your name to the above posting --- as a matter of courtesy, this is a discussion zone where real names should be used, and I appreciate your doing it. Thanks, Alistair.  +  +----  +The article asks "does a use case contain more than one use case". Should one of these be "scenario"?  +- Kivi

Through the spring, we (at Modus Cooperandi) have been working with my olf colleague from Microsoft, Kim Tapia-St.Amant and her Interactive Space company to design our new brand identity and web site. We're rolling out the brand identity this week at the APLN Leadership Summit in Seattle. The web site redesign will be happening over the summer and we hope to launch that in September.

There was a long process to create this new logo and word mark. First of all we looked at the brand essence of the company and words that invoked the type of emotions we want associated with our business. We also looked at trends in the market, what our customers and competitors and doing and the psychology of color. The end result is this spherical handshake creation by Antje Goebelsman. It's been growing on me this past month and I like it more and more.

I've been paying attention to logos a lot more recently and I've come to realize that we are in good company...

Technorati tag: Modus+Cooperandi, David+Anderson, Agile+Management

Question: Which is better, a team with great leader as project manager, or a team of competent leaders? Answer: The results are not even close. Companies like Semco, Toyota, and W. L. Gore & Associates have demonstrated beyond doubt, that... Mike Griffiths

There is only 1 week left before the APLN Agile Leadership Summit: Advancing the Agile Enterprise, at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle. We've got a fantastic lineup of speakers and breakout sessions. It's a mini-Agile conference here in the Northwest. Don't miss out! Registration is only $400. This is the cheapest Agile conference you can attend this year.

Register Now!

We still have room for about 20 more people. We may take walk-ins on the 17th. However, we'd like you to register before COB Friday so that we can give the hotel the final catering numbers. Thanks. See you there! Technorati tag: APLN, Agile+Management, Project+Management, Leadership, Lean, Software+Engineering

Revision as of 09:50, 27 June 2008 Current revision Line 88: Line 88: The simplest application that demonstrates the ports &amp; adapters fortunately comes with the FIT documentation. It is a simple discount computing application: The simplest application that demonstrates the ports &amp; adapters fortunately comes with the FIT documentation. It is a simple discount computing application: -  -<center>  -  {| width="374" border="BORDER" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="7" {| width="374" border="BORDER" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="7" | valign="TOP" | <font size="2" face="Courier New"> | valign="TOP" | <font size="2" face="Courier New"> -  discount(amount) = amount * rate(amount); discount(amount) = amount * rate(amount); -  Line 104: Line 99: |} |} -</center>  In our adaptation, the amount will come from the user and the rate will come from a database, so there will be two ports. We implement them in stages: In our adaptation, the amount will come from the user and the rate will come from a database, so there will be two ports. We implement them in stages: Line 117: Line 111: First we create the test cases as an HTML table (see the FIT documentation for this): First we create the test cases as an HTML table (see the FIT documentation for this): -  -<center>  Line 142: Line 134: |} |} -</center>  Note that the column names will become class and function names in our program. FIT contains ways to get rid of this "programmerese", but for this article it is easier just to leave them in. Note that the column names will become class and function names in our program. FIT contains ways to get rid of this "programmerese", but for this article it is easier just to leave them in. Knowing what the test data will be, we create the user-side adapter, the ColumnFixture that comes with FIT as shipped: Knowing what the test data will be, we create the user-side adapter, the ColumnFixture that comes with FIT as shipped: -  -<center>  Line 161: Line 150: |} |} -</center>  That's actually all there is to the adapter. So far, the tests run from the command line (see the FIT book for the path you'll need). We used this one: That's actually all there is to the adapter. So far, the tests run from the command line (see the FIT book for the path you'll need). We used this one: -<center>  Line 176: Line 163: |} |} -</center>  FIT produces an output file with colors showing us what passed (or failed, in case we made a typo somewhere along the way). FIT produces an output file with colors showing us what passed (or failed, in case we made a typo somewhere along the way). Line 186: Line 172: I'm going to let you create your own UI and have it drive the Discounter application, since the code is a bit long to include here. Some of the key lines in the code are these: I'm going to let you create your own UI and have it drive the Discounter application, since the code is a bit long to include here. Some of the key lines in the code are these: -<center>  Line 199: Line 184: |} |} -</center>  At this point the application can be both demoed and regression tested. The user-side adapters are both running. At this point the application can be both demoed and regression tested. The user-side adapters are both running. Line 207: Line 191: To create a replaceable adapter for the database side, we create an ''interface'' to a repository, a ''RepositoryFactory'' that will produce either the mock database or the real service object, and the in-memory mock for the database. To create a replaceable adapter for the database side, we create an ''interface'' to a repository, a ''RepositoryFactory'' that will produce either the mock database or the real service object, and the in-memory mock for the database. -<center>  Line 218: Line 201: |} |} -</center>  -<center>  Line 235: Line 216: |} |} -</center>  -<center>  Line 248: Line 227: |} |} -</center>  To hook this adapter into the Discounter application, we need to update the application itself to accept a repository adapter to use, and the have the (FIT or UI) user-side adapter pass the repository to use (real or mock) into the constructor of the application itself. Here is the updated application and a FIT adapter that passes in a mock repository (the FIT adapter code to choose whether to pass in the mock or real repository's adapter is longer without adding much new information, so I omit that version here). To hook this adapter into the Discounter application, we need to update the application itself to accept a repository adapter to use, and the have the (FIT or UI) user-side adapter pass the repository to use (real or mock) into the constructor of the application itself. Here is the updated application and a FIT adapter that passes in a mock repository (the FIT adapter code to choose whether to pass in the mock or real repository's adapter is longer without adding much new information, so I omit that version here). -<center>  Line 269: Line 246: |} |} -</center>  -<center>  Line 286: Line 261: |} |} -</center>  That concludes implementation of the simplest version of the hexagonal architecture. That concludes implementation of the simplest version of the hexagonal architecture.

Revision as of 07:52, 27 June 2008 Current revision Line 17: Line 17: '''USE THE SYSTEM +''' '''USE THE SYSTEM +''' -# I, the content owner, a registered viewer or a casual visitor, add or edit muffins!+# I, the content owner, a registered viewer or a casual visitor, '''add or edit muffins'''! -# I, the unwary casual visitor, view and review muffins, and scan the site to locate things of interest.+# I, the unwary casual visitor, '''view and review muffins''', and scan the site to locate things of interest. -# While viewing a muffin, I (a gnome) mess with its version history.+# While viewing a muffin, I (a gnome) '''mess with its version history'''. -# When an RSS readers asks, the system generates an RSS response.+# When an RSS readers asks, the system '''generates an RSS response'''. # I, Alistair, load stuff to sell; the visitor buys something. # I, Alistair, load stuff to sell; the visitor buys something. Line 26: Line 26: '''View, rate, or comment on a muffin!''' '''View, rate, or comment on a muffin!''' -# I go to Alistair's site and identify a muffin. +# I go to Alistair's site and '''identify a muffin'''. -# The server serves up that muffin (with frostings). +# The server '''serves up that muffin''' (with frostings). # I view / scroll / follow links, etc as usual in browsers. # I view / scroll / follow links, etc as usual in browsers. -# I rate the muffin.+# I '''rate the muffin'''. -# I add a comment to the discussion about the muffin.+# I '''add a comment''' to the discussion about the muffin. ---- ---- '''(1) identify a muffin:''' '''(1) identify a muffin:''' -* name its direct URL +* name its '''direct URL''' -* name its glossy URL +* name its '''glossy URL''' * name an archaic URL * name an archaic URL * name a synonym * name a synonym -* via a category +* via a ''category'' * via multi-category filtering * via multi-category filtering * via word in the title or body * via word in the title or body * via partial-word fragment of the title * via partial-word fragment of the title * see partial matches in real time as I type * see partial matches in real time as I type -* via "links to here" while viewing a muffin +* via '' "links to here" '' while viewing a muffin '''(2) serves up a muffin: ''' '''(2) serves up a muffin: ''' -* html +* '''html''' -* textile wiki+* '''textile wiki''' * gif * gif -* png +* '''png''' * jpg * jpg -* aml +* ''aml'' * doc * doc -* ppt +* '''ppt''' -* YouTube+* '''YouTube''' -* pdf+* '''pdf''' * media wiki * media wiki * voice * voice

The APLN Seattle Leadership Summit is shaping up to be quite the learning event. Here are some of the highlights: Collaboration Games by Luke Hohmann and Allan Shalloway Kanban by David Anderson and Corey Ladas Scrum by Brent Barton and... Mike Griffiths

Revision as of 17:45, 17 June 2008 Current revision Line 2: Line 2: I can see why it's wrong to be over-specific - You then have a UC that's long, requires excessive maintenance as the domain model develops, and is too closely tied in with your solution rather than actually reflecting the requirement. However you then have a UC that can be used directly to test the solution, so some of that maintenance time can be offset against test development. As long as you're not being too formal, this seems to me a valid way to do things. I'm happy to be told I'm wrong though...! I can see why it's wrong to be over-specific - You then have a UC that's long, requires excessive maintenance as the domain model develops, and is too closely tied in with your solution rather than actually reflecting the requirement. However you then have a UC that can be used directly to test the solution, so some of that maintenance time can be offset against test development. As long as you're not being too formal, this seems to me a valid way to do things. I'm happy to be told I'm wrong though...!  +  +-- signed, Paul B.  +----  +  +Hi, Paul -- could you please sign your posts in the future? thanks.  +  +It's all a question of economics. Software projects are already more expensive than the sponsor wants. As you point out, there is much waste. Yes, for molto extra money, you can end up with an artifact that is extravagantly expensive for the value it provides - but which, yes, does provide value. But why on earth do that?  +  +The single top argument that people hand me for hating use cases is that they are long, unreadable and unmaintainable due to the incorporation of all those details.  +  +The single top benefit that people hand me for loving use cases is that the short ones I recommend are readable and align the organization across departments about what is to be (is being) built.  +  +Putting those two together results in my recommendation.  +  +I believe the UI documentation belongs in a related document, made explicitly, and as cheaply as possible for the purposes you mention, and which will not be read by many people. The use cases are to be read by as many people as possible as a touchstone for what's being built.  +  +I don't know if that convinces you, or anyone else - it's about all I've got on this topic.  +  +-- Alistair

Revision as of 17:36, 17 June 2008 Current revision Line 4: Line 4: I'm English, but I know those sorts of error annoy our Scottish cousins... I'm English, but I know those sorts of error annoy our Scottish cousins...  +  +-- Paul B.  +----  +  +Hi, Paul --- many thanks for that correction --- I thought, as I drove that route, that Cockburnspath was still marked as south of the border on my driving map ... however, Google maps shows it north of the border, so I appreciate the correction (it's much cooler to be Scottish than merely northern English :)  +  +Also, Paul, please sign your posts in the future - this is quite deliberately not an anonymous posting site.  +  +Many thanks for your two contributions - Alistair.

Revision as of 16:01, 17 June 2008 Current revision Line 35: Line 35: [[Image:Stephan Wissel Crystal Clear mindmap.jpeg]] [[Image:Stephan Wissel Crystal Clear mindmap.jpeg]]  +  +----  +Thanks to Kent Beck for pointing out the Wordle.net site, which converts text into word clouds. Here's what happened from the Crystal Clear book:  +  +<a href="http://wordle.net/gallery/Crystal_Clear_Methodology_Wordle_alt_1"  + title="Wordle: Crystal Clear Methodology Wordle alt 1"><img  + src="http://wordle.net/thumb/Crystal_Clear_Methodology_Wordle_alt_1"  + style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"  + ></a>  +  +  + ---- ---- <center> <center>