Austin Software Process Improvement Network (A-SPIN)

Tuesday, September 17, 2002 Presentation: A Methodology for Process Design, by Lawrence Waugh, Calavista To view Lawrence Waugh's September SPIN presentation, please click here. Presentation Overview: Over the years, various people and groups have proposed methodologies for writing software "better". These range from processes very heavy on planning and design review to focusing on allowing the developer to be creative and innovative. Each methodology amounts to a collection of "best practices", each of which is targeted at one or more of the symptoms of poor software development. Some of these include: Task-based development Pre-estimating task time and tracking it against actual time required Formal unit testing Continuous integration/build Regular regression testing Regular/rigorous code reviews Team programming Auditing developers' work habits/skills for continual improvement Unfortunately, many best practices are like flossing - everyone knows you should do regular regression testing, but who has the time? For each of the practices above, there are abundant reasons why "they won't work in our organization." Lawrence Waugh will be discussing a methodology and toolkit developed by a software group in Austin to support its internal development efforts. The methodology supports the above practices, and the toolkit allows an organization to adopt any of them as the organization is ready, while introducing little or no overhead. In addition, the toolkit provides the added benefit of delivering a robust set of metrics concerning the development process that aren't generally available to a software team. About the Speaker: Lawrence Waugh spent 8 years in Austin working for four enterprise software providers before co-founding Calavista. Calavista supports the development efforts of software companies through custom development work, development process consulting, and QA management. Clients have included Dell, Telelogic, Hire.com, Between Markets, Trilogy Software, SGI, and e-Perceptions. Prior to Calavista, Lawrence served as VP of Engineering for Aviri, Director of Technical Integration and Director of Professional Services for Agillion, Director of Content for pcOrder, and Senior Technical Manager for Trilogy Software. Lawrence holds a Bachelors Degree in Aeronautic/Astronautic Engineering from MIT, and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Stanford University. He also spent over 7 years as a naval aviator, serving as a carrier-based attack pilot during Operation Desert Storm, and spending another 2 months on active duty shortly after September 11, 2001. Lawrence and his wife Kim have 4 children - Samantha, Amanda, Brandon and Caitlin.