[clug] Essential Software Practices

[steve jenkin]

A little off topic for this list, but it goes to the heart of FOSS & its
production.

I was wondering what others viewed as Essential Software Practices.
[Any books/websites on the subject?]

By *Practices*, I mean things you do (computer assisted or not),
rather than *Processes* which create 'deliverables' like Specifications,
Requirements, Reports, ...

[my apologies is there is standard terminology & diff terms]

What I've come up with:

 - Repository {findable code, user ident, Name Space control}
 - Version Control {auth, log, diffs, rollback}
 - Traceability {who changed what, why is a feature present}
 - Testing {defined repeatable tests}

Admittedly the Repo is a 'virtual thing', but setting them up and using
them is a 'practice'. They support Versioning and the two are integrated
in 'products' like Subversion and CVS.

-------

This question came up when I was helping a friend with an Excel
spreadsheet. It's a real programming environment, but lacks so many
essentials for good programming its not funny
A really awful experience :-(

-- 
Steve Jenkin, Info Tech, Systems and Design Specialist.
0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
PO Box 48, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA

sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin