Better Software - March 2009 - (Page 3) March 2009 Volume 11, Issue 2 Cover Story LEAN PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT 26 Improving your software development process is only valuable if it fills the highest priority needs for your business clients with speed and quality. Lean principles provide guidance on how to create a structure that lets business priorities drive the selection of the right products for creation and enhancement. by Guy Beaver Features TAMING THE HEADLESS BEAST 32 The benefits of Web services are becoming widely demonstrated and accepted. However, these benefits are not without their own challenges. How can you enter data and verify the response of a system without a GUI? Are you ready to tame this headless beast? by David Fern BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR STRUCTURED REQUIREMENTS 40 Aspect-oriented requirements engineering (AORE) is a new methodology that can help us further improve the analysis, structure, and cost of development of software requirements. The second part of this two-part series focuses on the AORE specification techniques. by Yuri Chernak Columns & Departments In Every Issue Mark Your Calendar 4 Contributors 6 Editor’s Note 8 eLightenment 13 Product Announcements 51 10 Things You Might Not Know About … 54 Ad Index 56 Better Software magazine—The print companion to StickyMinds.com brings you the hands-on, knowledgebuilding information you need to run smarter projects and deliver better products that win in the marketplace and positively affect the bottom line. Subscribe today to get ten issues. Visit www.BetterSoftware.com or call 800.450.7854. TECHNICALLY SPEAKING 11 The Missing Measurement • by Lee Copeland In these times, many of us are being told to “do more with less.” A more useful approach is “invest our organization’s scarce resources where the return is the greatest.” CODE CRAFT 18 The Ghost of a Codebase Past • by Pete Goodliffe Revisiting your old code can be an enlightening experience. Look back at your old code to see how your technique has improved, how your programming skills have progressed, and what you can learn from it. TEST CONNECTION 20 Off the Trails • by Michael Bolton A focused approach toward testing a product is important, but sometimes we discover information that we didn’t anticipate at all. If we vary our approaches, we might find something surprising and broaden our coverage. MANAGEMENT CHRONICLES 22 Go,Team! • by Patrick Bailey Fed up with good ol’ boy salesmen, a manufacturing mind-set, just “get-it-out-thedoor” directions? A little assertiveness, a few ounces of patience, a dash of charm, a lot of leadership, and some attitude adjustment by everyone might help. THE LAST WORD 55 Reloadable Test Data-O-Matic • by Tanya Dumaresq Reloadable test data takes more time up front (as compared to on-the-fly data creation), but saves blood, sweat, and tears in the long term. It also virtually eliminates “works on my machine” bugs, creates a more intricate and realistic environment, and is the first step on the road to test automation. StickyMinds.com We invite you to visit StickyMinds.com, the online companion to Better Software magazine. StickyMinds.com covers the same pertinent topics as the magazine, putting the power of information at the click of your mouse. Weekly columns, headline-making bugs, hundreds of technical papers, an online tools guide, discussion boards, and so much more make StickyMinds.com your site for 24/7 brainfood to help you build better software. www.StickyMinds.com MARCH 2009 BETTER SOFTWARE 3 http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.BetterSoftware.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com
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