Who is actually constantly updating their project spec?
Yes, we all get a warm and fuzzy feeling when we read about project specifications and how they help keep the project on time and within the area , etc.
Who is here really working for a company that maintains and updates specifications?
If so, what are the reasons for this? What is the main reason for having a large team?
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Cor .. What is a project specification?
We tend to start with an idea that has a well-defined time frame and so on, then the sales team talks to the client and promises the Earth. Then our project specification comes out the window!
So, we do not support the project specification mainly because:
- Sales are too promising.
- We have a small team and not much time can be taken from coding the documentation.
- We often have to wrap any changes very quickly VERY quickly (often ASAP), which leaves little time / time for updating any documentation if any!
Think it's all good? Not! But at this time it is difficult for us to see the way out of this! Lots of things to do (both work wisely and improve the process).
My home projects seem to be much better, but my specifications are also much weaker and I know how I work - so I can get the process to work a lot more with me.
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The best way to do this is to extract the appropriate bits of func./design. and then include them as "headers" in the actual code.
These headers can then be extracted using Javadoc or some such.
This way developers can update the "title" when they update the code and it keeps the entire project in sync.
Works pretty well for us.
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The very fact that project specifications are so rarely updated is a good reason to revise their form, at least when presented as a printed document. My all too painful experience with such things is that they are usually out of date before they even get printed and distributed. After that, each of them will probably have a different version after manually annotating.
What is the purpose of a "project specification"? I guess this may include some or all
- Architecture
- Business Requirements
- Performance limitations
- External interfaces
- Legal restrictions
Potentially a few more. Without going into (dubious) wisdom, trying to fix all of the above before coding begins, I would be surprised if any of these categories did not change during the project lifecycle, for any project large enough to have a BOM written at all ...
Is there a way that the provided requirements could be delivered in the form of an executable test? If a requirement cannot be expressed as a set of tests that determine its conformity, then it is probably not a well-expressed requirement at all, so the specification is incomplete.
I'm wondering if there might be something like the Ward Cunningham FIT framework ? Thus, the criteria are stored in the Wiki, with tests that determine acceptance on the same page.
Which system or project would not be receptive to this approach?
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