Build the Right System

The software profession faces many challenges including our general approach to requirements. A high percentage of implemented functionality is seldom used and requirement deficiencies are frequented cited among the top five reasons for project failure.

How can we as software professionals and craftsmen know that we are producing the most valuable system at just the right time for our users? The concept of “pull” from lean manufacturing, in combination with agile values and practices, provides a powerful guide for how we can improve our profession by allowing the incremental specification of functionality to “pull” the creation of working software. In this workshop participants will experience how a real working system can be constructed from the ground up through the definition of executable specifications. In a cycle comparable to that of Test Driven Development participants will see how, through a series of micro-iterations, requirements can pull the creation of
executable specifications, integration tests, unit tests, and production code. Along the way we will also touch on related subjects such as code coverage,
mocking, and user-interface testing.

About Derek Lane

Derek Lane is the CTO at Semantra. He has worn various hats in his career including mentor, coach, architect, manager, developer, trainer, methodologist and all around cool guy. Derek is a contributor to various projects as author, presenter, committer, and technical reviewer, including his most recent role as co-author for the book, “EJB3 In Action”, published by Manning.

Derek is the Founder of both the Oklahoma City Java User Group (OKCJUG) and the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas MicroJava User Group; and has been active as a member, presenter, and mentor for over a decade at various technology user groups across the Midwest and Southern US.

Derek can on occasion be found utilizing his background in engineering, Virtual Reality and 3D graphics to think in four or more dimensions - some of which have yet to be independently verified. When not exploring the mind numbing edge of technology, he can be found listening to Bluegrass music and watching old Kung Fu movies - a dangerous combination from any point of view.

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