Methods & Tools - News, Facts & Comments Edition - August 2008
*** News ***************************************************************
* IBM Acquires ILOG
IBM and ILOG announced that they have signed an agreement regarding a proposed acquisition by IBM of ILOG.
http://blog.martinig.ch/?p=115
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* M&T Industry Press Releases Channel
You can view and follow recent press releases from software development tools vendors on http://www.softdevtools.com/modules/news/
*** Numbers ************************************************************
* Open Source Software Turned Industrial but Perceived Quality Don't Change
Open source development tools like MySQL, Eclipse, PHP or JBoss are now adopted by many software development organizations. Our last poll examined how the quality of open source tools is perceived against their commercial competitors. We conducted a similar poll twice in the past and it is interesting to compare the results.
| Open source versus commercial tools | 2008 | 2006 | 2004 |
| Same quality | 31% | 38% | 32% |
| There is no easy answer to this question | 25% | 22% | 24% |
| Superior in quality | 21% | 20% | 26% |
| Inferior in quality | 12% | 12% | 13% |
| I do not use open source tools | 6% | 6% | 4% |
| I do not use commercial tools | 3% | 2% | 1% |
| Participants | 913 | 524 | 312 |
We can see that the results have not changed significantly compared to the previous polls. Even if the number of participants thinking that quality is similar has decreased slightly, a majority still judges that open source software development tools is as good or better than commercial products.
Read the complete analyis with exernal resources list on http://www.methodsandtools.com/dynpoll/oldpoll.php?OSQual3
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* Unit Testing Poll
The current M&T poll is asking how is unit testing performed at your location. Go to www.methodsandtools.com/dynpoll/vote.php to participate and to see intermediate results.
*** Jobs Opening on SoftDevJobs.com ************************************
More than 20 jobs are waiting for you on http://www.softdevjobs.com/
Posting of jobs is free. If your company is recruiting in the software development field, do not hesitate to use our board.
*** Books **************************************************************
Ajax In Practice
This book by Dave Crane, Bear Bibeault and Jord Sonneveld aims to be a second-generation Ajax book. It aims to go beyond just explaining the technology and explore in details the different client-side Ajax technologies and show what you can do with them. The target audience is a developer that has already a background of developing web applications and a basic knowledge of JavaScript. I can say that the book achieves its goals and provides practical concepts and code excerpts that can be readily used. For every topic that is discussed in the book, there is a detailed code example that shows how to use it in practice. I like also the fact that the specific goal of important lines are put in evidence in the code examples.
The book is divided in two parts. The first part contains four chapters that present the basic concepts of Ajax. After an introduction, the book discusses the various communications techniques like Json or XML. A chapter is then dedicated to object-oriented JavaScript, that the authors present as a must to build scalable Ajax code. Finally, the book takes a closer look at the different JavaScript libraries (Prototype, Dojo and JQuery) used for Ajax applications.
The second part presents the various practices that could be used in client-side programming and are related to Ajax, either directly or indirectly: events, data entry and validation, navigation, drag-and-drop, usability, state management. Each topic is clearly explained in a dedicated chapter. A chapter is also dedicated to integrating outside API like Yahoo! or Google maps. A last chapter is dedicated to a sample mash-up application.
Manning Publications, ISBN: 1932394990, Paperback: 456 pages
Source code and sample chapters for this book can be find on http://www.manning.com/crane2/
To get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1932394990/methotools-20
To get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1932394990/methotools-21
*** Conferences ********************************************************
* International Test Certification Weeks (ITCW)
* St. Louis, MO - August 25- 29, 2008
* Atlanta, GA - October 6-10, 2008
* Las Vegas , NV - November 3-7, 2008
* Denver, CO - November 17-21, 2008
* Dallas, CO - December 8-12, 2008
20 Full day in-depth Software Testing and QA courses taught by Leading Industry Experts in Software Testing & Quality
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* 25th International Practical Software Quality and Testing (PSQT) Conference. September 8-12, 2008, Minneapolis, MN
PSQT focuses on PRACTICAL software testing techniques.
* 1 Day conference with 28 Track and Feature Presentations
* 2 Keynote presentations by leading industry experts
* 4 Days with 7 Tutorials each day that will apply towards CSTP or CTM
certification
http://www.psqtconference.com/2008north/index.php
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* Conquest 08 September 24-26, Potsdam, Germany
Since 1997, CONQUEST is the platform for software professionals bringing together the software engineering community to discuss software quality aspects, to see how quality engineering methods and techniques are used in both industrial and research environments, to see the latest tools, to share experiences on projects and representative case studies, and to hear about future directions.
http://www.conquest-conference.org
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* Agile Business Conference September 23-24 2008, London, UK
Agile Business Conference 2008: A very rich and varied programme across a wide range of Agile contexts. From organisations and individuals who are world class in their field. Whether a newcomer to Agile needing to know what the options are, or a battle hardened expert wishing to develop your techniques, this is for you!
http://www.agileconference.org
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* STARWEST Software Testing Analysis & Review,
September 29-October 3 2008, Anaheim, USA
Providing the largest and most advanced testing forum, STARWEST delivers the latest trends, technologies, and strategies in the industry today. Find answers to your questions about test management, automation, SOA testing, model-based testing, and many of the other hot-topics in the industry. For more information on how to take your team to the next level visit
http://www.sqe.com/go?SW08MTad
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* Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC)
October 13-15, 2008, Portland, USA
The mission of The Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. PNSQC 2008 will feature technical papers, keynote addresses and workshops around the theme of Collaborative Quality. Conference registration is now open, discounts available
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* Scandinavian Agile Conference, October 29 2008, Helsinki, Finland
Scandinavian Agile '08 Conference (Scan-Agile '08) is organized by Agile Finland ry, a non-profit organization created by the active agile community in Finland. This is the first instance of this conference and the content includes business-focused as well as practitioner focused presentations and hands on workshops".
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* QA&TEST: International Conference on Embedded Software Testing,
October 29-31 2008, Bilbao, Spain
QA&TEST diffuses the latest technological developments in Software Testing and Quality Assurance. The conference features successful best practices and cutting-edge solutions. Learn about test management, model-based testing, QA and measurement etc. QA&TEST will bring together professionals and experts from different sectors such as: Railways, Aeronautics, Electronic Devices, Banking or Telecommunications.
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* Agile Development Practices, November 10-14, 2008, Orlando, USA
Whether you're investigating or implementing agile development practices, Agile Development Practices has what you need. Learn the latest in agile methods, technologies, tools, and leadership principles from thought leaders who deliver inspiring keynote presentations, in-depth tutorials, and a wide range of conference classes. For more information visit
http://www.sqe.com/go?ADP08MTad
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* IT Portfolio Management, November 17-19 2008, Orlando, USA
ITPM is the ONLY event to provide an unbiased, cross-industry perspective for portfolio managers looking for the best way to align their projects. With its unique and interactive program, it addresses your key frustrations through roundtable discussion groups, in depth workshops, and real life stories from corporate practitioners in the trenches
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Eclipse Summit Europe, November 19-20 2008, Ludwigsburg, Germany
The Eclipse Summit is the Foundation's premier event designed to create stimulating and dynamic opportunities for the European Eclipse community to learn, share expertise and discover new opportunities and solutions in the Eclipse ecosystem.
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* XP Days Benelux, 20-21 November 2008, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
The fifth edition of the XP Days Benelux conference will be held in Eindhoven. Two days packed full of agile experience, practical knowledge and sharing. Whatever your level of experience, role or industry, this is the place to be if you want to know what "agile" really is.
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* Open Source Singapore-Pacific-Asia Conference & Expo 2009, February 16-28 2009, Singapore
The Open Source Singapore-Pacific-Asia Conference & Expo will be the seminal event, where the best and brightest developers, executives, and visionaries will gather to set the future course of Open Source across the region. The conference will include keynote speakers, breakout sessions, an exhibit hall and endless networking opportunities.
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* ACCU 2009 Spring Conference, 22-25 April 2009, Oxford, UK
The ACCU conference has a tradition of high quality sessions covering many aspects of software development, from programming languages and technologies to development processes, and softer aspects such as team building, communication and leadership.
http://www.accu.org/conference
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More informations on http://www.softdevconferences.com/
*** M&T News ***********************************************************
* SoftDevLinks - Software Development Links
SoftDevLinks.com is a new general directory for software developers, testers and managers. If you have a blog, a web site, distribute a tool or work a consulting company related to software development, do not hesitate to add a (free) link in this directory.
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* More than 250 videos on SofDevTube.com
Our software development videos directory has now more than 250 items registered on various software development topics ranging from java programming to project management. Improve your knowledge watching them on http://www.softdevtube.com/
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* Software Development Articles
Some of the last interesting additions
* Good Old Advice
Things have not changed in software engineering since the NATO 68 conference
to the Agile manifesto
http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2008/08/0808Cockburn.html
* Creating mashups on the Google App Engine using Eclipse
A series that give you insight of the the Google App architecture.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-eclipse-mashup-google-pt1/
* User Story Estimation Techniques
A front line report on estimation techniques
http://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-estimation-techniques
Check out other recent discoveries on http://www.softdevarticles.com
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* Future Issues of Methods & Tools
In future issues, you will find articles on:
- Managing Scrum Meetings
- Getting and Keeping Control over your Project
- Outsourcing Software Testing
- Behavior Driven Database Design
- Optimizing the Contribution of Testing to Project Success
- Rich User Interfaces
- Architecture Decay
- Code Generation
- A Gentle Introduction To Software Estimation
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Copyright (C) 2008, Martinig & Associates