1. CS 325: Software Engineering
Lesson Twenty-Two
Software Configuration Management
Task Scheduling & Prioritization
Reporting Project Progress
Configuration Management

2. Task Scheduling
A general approach to scheduling the tasks for a software project:
Schedule up-front tasks (installation, training)
Determine dependencies between analysis, design, implementation, and testing
Schedule forwards (plan the natural sequence of development) and backwards (work from goals back to how to achieve them)
Assign tasks to team members, weighing both skills & motivations and risks & rewards
Formulate backup plans based upon perceived risks and their anticipated impact
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Software Configuration Management
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3. Task Prioritization
As the project exits the planning stage and enters the implementation stage, tasks must be prioritized
Traditional Pareto Prioritization
Prioritize the project tasks with the notion that priorities shall remain basically unchanged
Agile prioritization
Revisit prioritization often, modifying as necessary
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Software Configuration Management
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4. Task Prioritization
Recognize that some project tasks are required, while others are discretionary.
In a video game, GUI design would be considered essential, while completely accurate computation (e.g., collision detection) might be considered discretionary.
In an industrial CAD/CAM system, however, accurate collision detection would be required, while an optimally designed GUI might be considered discretionary.
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Software Configuration Management
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5. Reporting Project Progress: Milestone Charts
Milestone charts are an effective way to present progress to team members and stakeholders at monthly meetings.
Key Project
Milestones
milestone
original date
revised date
actual date
This Month’s
Milestones
(Accomplished)
milestone
original date
revised date
actual date
This Month’s
Milestones
(Not Accomplished)
milestone
original date
revised date
actual date
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Software Configuration Management
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6. Total Task Time Estimate
Reporting Project Progress:
Project Scoreboard
This detailed documentation is an effective way to dynamically organize information about progress during a team meeting.
Project Role
Tasks Under Way
Completed Tasks
Total Task Time Estimate
Measurements
Dependencies
Commitments
Risks
Comments
It frequently reveals potential problems and their solutions, as well as providing focus and perspective to the team members.
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Software Configuration Management
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7. Configuration Management
With multiple developers on a software project, formal revision control becomes essential.
Subversion is a commercial revision control system that tracks integrated “trunk” systems, currently developing “branch” systems”, and milestone snapshots known as “tag” systems.
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Software Configuration Management
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8. Distributed Repository
Most version control systems (like Subversion) store information as a set of files and the changes made to each file over time.
Distributed version control systems, like Git, think of data more like a set of snapshots of a miniature filesystem.
Every time the state of your project is saved, Git takes a picture of what all files look like at that moment and stores a reference to that snapshot. To be efficient, if files have not changed, Git doesn’t store the file again, just a link to the previous identical file it has already stored.
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Software Configuration Management
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9. Check-Out/Check-In
Focusing on version support for individual files, this type of configuration management system consists of two relatively independent tools.
The repository tool stores versions of files and provides mechanisms for controlling the creation of new versions.
The build tool automates the generation of derived files (e.g., object code, linked executables).
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Software Configuration Management
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10. Composition
Developers repeatedly compose a system from its components and by selecting the desired version for each component.
By retaining multiple versions of individual software components, this configuration management model facilitates trying new approaches and reverting to old ones when necessary.
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Software Configuration Management
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11. Change Set
Another approach to configuration management is to keep track of the set of changes that have been made from configuration to configuration.
By focusing on the change sets instead of the overall components, developers are often better able to determine logical dependencies within the system, as well as to ensure the system’s stability.
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Software Configuration Management
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