Priorities and contents of releases and the TSB decision process J. Apostolakis Version 0.3 Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002 Outline Work plan Release planning Scheduled releases Minor releases Major releases Other releases Patches Unscheduled minor releases Recommendation 3.3: We recommend that the GEANT4 Collaboration clearly define the (different) areas of responsibilities and physics coverage of the two EM groups. The CB should ensure that the relation between the two groups remain that of healthy competition and productive interaction. Recommendation 4.1: We recommend a release schedule planned around a set of corrections and improvements. Both the schedule and the planned features should be readily accessible to all users and developers.   Recommendation 4.2: We recommend the adoption of more frequent, though not necessarily fully tested, “beta” releases that address important blocking problems. They should be available to all users. These “beta” releases are in addition to having a stable and working version of the program at any time, with a documentation of all known bugs or deficiencies in that particular version. Recommendation 4.3: We recommend defining and managing the complete product tree, including documentation as well as the code, as part of a release. If the documentation is not ready, the release cannot be deemed to be ready. Recommendation 4.4: URD’s are an integral part of the documentation and product trees. A coherent set covering all of GEANT4 must be finished and put in place expeditiously. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002 2001 Review recommendation 4.1 We recommend a release schedule planned around a set of corrections and improvements. Both the schedule and the planned features should be readily accessible to all users and developers. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

General considerations on releases Regular releases To include continuing development(s) Effort for scheduled releases 5 week release cycle includes Tiered category deadlines (3 groups) Quality assurance (memory leak) Investigation and solution of open problems Need for quick response of many people leads to the necessity of scheduling release cycles. Experience has shown that at most two scheduled releases can be achieved each year. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

‘Feature’ vs. ‘calendar’ releases Content based releases Advantages Well defined end product User clarity Disadvantages Difficulty in predicting Potential for large date slippage Calendar based releases Disadvantages Unclear end product Potential user confusion Advantages Scheduling of developers’ availability Scheduling of users. Neither has appeared fully satisfactory for our collaboration. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002 Solution adopted Current compromise Proposed developments for releases agreed in first quarter of year After review of experiment/client requirements And proposal of WG development goals Release plan is reviewed by TSB in fall to assess realised risks to revise, if necessary, the proposed content and/or date of a release. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002 Release 4.0 (released December 2001) Work plan 2001 (link) Set scheduled content of 4.0 in 1st quarter 2001 Conditional addition of cuts/material On 27th September 2001 a goal for 4.0, if possible, or 4.1 Items of concern Oct/Nov 2001: Potential disruption due to addition of new functionality (cuts/material) Delay in a hadronic model TSB meeting 13th Nov 2001 Decision to proceed with release in Dec 2001 with cuts per material and available models due to request of experiment(s) Release (release notes) included cuts/material Note: a patch (#1) was required for a fix related to the one of the ‘major’ added kernel features (reference counted touchables). Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002 Release 5.0 Work plan (TSB 11th April 2002) Announcement of scheduled features of Geant4 5.0 At the time of the release of Geant4 4.1 In the download web page and since also on the top Geant4 web page Fall review: TSB 4th October 2002 Current leading risk: Cuts/region development New requests Comparable versions with cuts/material & cuts/region (ATLAS) Further maintenance of cuts/material (ESA) Draft plan created Confirmed features of Geant4 5.0 to be announced soon. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002 Refinements in 2001/2 Documentation released with source, data As of Geant4 4.0, December 2001 ‘Beta’ releases for public Available on signup to mailing list Subscribers 4th October 2002 number 30. First one made Aug 2002 Development monthly-tag version (usual case) Current schedule: every two months possible each month, will see feedback. Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002

First thoughts on possible future improvements Better presentation of scheduled features Earlier and wider More communication of improvements Short ‘briefings’ on the status of Geant4 at each release Concentrating on new features User discussion session(s) one-two months later To obtain user feedback Better estimated development plans Challenging due to diversity, distribution of collaboration Geant4 Delta Review, October 2002