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Methods & Tools - News, Facts & Comments Edition - May 2008

*** News **********************************************************

* Microsoft Withdraws Proposal to Acquire Yahoo!

Microsoft Corp announced on May 3rd that it has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo!.

http://blog.martinig.ch/?p=101

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* Borland (Finally) Sells CodeGear to Embarcadero

Borland Software Corporation announced today a definitive agreement to sell the assets of its individual developer tools unit, CodeGear, to privately held Embarcadero Technologies.

http://blog.martinig.ch/?p=102

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* Team Concert Beta 3 Out

The IBM’s Jazz project has just released the beta number 3 of its Rational Team Concert (also named Rational Team Concert 1.0 RC2), the first product based on the Jazz Team Server. I had the chance to attend recently in Geneva to an interesting presentation given by John Kellerman, the product manager of Jazz.

http://blog.martinig.ch/?p=103

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* HP Acquires EDS: Too Much and Too Soon?

HP and EDS today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase EDS at a price of $25.00 per share, or an enterprise value of approximately $13.9 billion.

http://blog.martinig.ch/?p=104

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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 *******************************************************

* Quality of Open Source Tools

The current M&T poll is asking you to rate the quality of open source software development tools (Eclipse, MySQL, PHP or Junit) versus the commercial tools. Currently it seems that most of the participants find that open source tools quality is better or equal to commercial tools. Go to www.methodsandtools.com/dynpoll/vote.php to participate and to see intermediate results.

*** Jobs Opening on SoftDevJobs.com *******************************

More than 60 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 *********************************************************

* Managing Iterative Software Development Projects

As agile software development approaches are more and more adopted in software development organizations, the title of this book from Kurt Bittner and Ian Spence seems to be right on the target. The book contains two major parts. The first gives an overview of iterative project management. It defines the concepts, discuss controlling and gives tips to assess your readiness for iterative project management. The second is a more detailed walk-through to the planning and management of iterations at different levels. It provides also information on how to assess the results of iterations, discuss the relation between iterative project management and project scales. The last chapter is dedicated to the information needed to start your first iterative project. Finally, appendices provide material on use case development (the topic of a former book from the same authors), templates, checklists and an example of 50 pages.

The process behind the book is widely based on the RUP approach; thus practitioners of a "pure" agile approach could be disoriented by the content. However, this book contains very valuable and pragmatic material about managing iterative projects that could be used in any iterative context. It will also provide good transition information towards an iterative process for project managers that operate in a more traditional organization. With 600 pages, it is a not an easy book that is quickly digested. It will nevertheless helps you to improve you grasp on iterative project management, whether you read the book sequentially or you pick sections according to your current project management questions.

Addison-Wesley Professional, ISBN: 032126889X, Paperback: 672 pages

Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.com

Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.co.uk

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Book: UML 2.0 in Action - A Project Based Tutorial

This book from Henriette Baumann, Philippe Baumann and Patrick Graessle is a very good introduction to the power of modeling with UML. After an initial presentation of the basic principles of modeling and UML, the book presents the diagrams used to model both business and software views of systems. The final part is devoted to the models that can be used for system integration.

All the diagrams are presented through the same case study. This book does not claim to be a detailed presentation of UML. It achieves with its case study to reach a good balance between providing enough knowledge to be used in real life situations, without being lost in features that are rarely used. The nicest aspect of this book is that it is not only a technical manual on UML diagrams, but it provides also valuable information and tips on how to create and verify them, by providing questions that will help you to conduct your analysis. This is a book that I will recommend as a reference for developers performing system analysis and design activities. It is also a good practical book for students that follow an UML course.

Packt Publishing ISBN: 1904811558, Paperback: 248 pages

Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.com

Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.co.uk

*** Conferences ********************************************************

* International Test Certification Weeks (ITCW)

* Anaheim, CA, June 2-6, 2008
* Boston, MA - June 23-27, 2008
* Seattle, WA - July 28 - August 1, 2008
* St. Louis, MO - August 25- 29, 2008
* Atlanta, GA - October 6-10, 2008

20 Full day in-depth Software Testing and QA courses taught by Leading Industry Experts in Software Testing & Quality

http://www.iist.org/stpw/

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* IBM Rational Software Development Conference June 1-5 2008, Orlando, USA

Join the League of Extraordinary Software Developers at the IBM Rational Software Development Conference. This year's event offers over 300 technical sessions, hands-on technical workshops, IBM certification classes, inspiring and informative keynote speakers, technology demonstrations plus a multitude of networking opportunities. Register today!

http://www.ibm.com/rational/rsdc

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* 2008 DC PHP Conference & Expo, June 2-4, 2008, Washington, DC USA

Come see how PHP is working within government, technical, and business applications. DC PHP will include tracks pertaining to business cases, best practices, the art of PHP, PHP applications, PHP in the enterprise, and Open Source.

http://www.dcphpconference.com/

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* Better Software Conference & EXPO 2008 June 9-12, 2008, Las Vegas, USA

Join your peers and top experts in software engineering at the Better Software Conference & EXPO ― take you and your team to the next level. Learn the latest tools, trends and issues related to agile development approaches, project management, people & teams, testing & QA, and much more.

http://www.sqe.com/go?BSCE08MTad

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* Yet Another Perl Conference 2008 June 16-18, Chicago, USA

This low-cost grassroots Perl conference is a gathering place for many of the leaders in the Open Source and Free Software communities. Join us for three days of in-depth technical talks surrounded by open hack-a-thons and professional training classes. Chat with Perl gurus like Larry Wall and Randal Schwartz, learn new Perl tricks, and even find a new career opportunity at our professional job fair.

http://yapc.org/America

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The International SPICE Days, June 23 – 25 2008, Prague, Czech Republic

Again this year iSQI succeeded in presenting a varied and interesting program with international contributions regarding the use of SPICE in Automotive, Finance & Banking, Aerospace and Medical. Register now and make sure to take advantage of our discounts. For registering before April 30 you will get 10% Early Bird discount.

http://www.spice-days.com

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* ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts Regional Conference June 24-27, 2008, San Diego, USA

 PW&WCBA Regional brings together industry experts and corporate practitioners to answer your toughest questions in project management and business analysis. With over 65 presentations including C-Level perspectives, Learning Labs, and 6 concurrent tracks, you’ll obtain the skills you need to tackle your most critical challenges more efficiently.

 http://www.projectworldregional.com

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* Code Generation 2008, June 25-27 2008. Cambridge, UK

40% of developers are using or planning to use Model-Driven Software Development. Don’t miss out! CG2008 brings together developers and leading experts in a unique, participative event. Whether you’re a beginner or an veteran with MDA, MDD, Domain-Specific Languages, Eclipse Modelling Framework etc. you will benefit by participating.

http://www.codegeneration.net/conference/

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* SEETEST 2008, July 2-3 2008, Sofia, Bulgaria

SEETEST 2008 – South East European Software Testing Conference will be the first conference ever in South East Europe in the area of Software Testing and Software Quality Management. The Keynote Speeches will be given by top executives of the international software testing scene: Bj Rollison, Test Architect, Microsoft, USA; Ina Schieferdecker, Fraunhofer FOKUS, Germany. The first conference day will be filled with tutorials, the second conference day with sessions and industrial presentations.

http://www.seetest.org

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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 Works!" Agile Business Conference 2008 is 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. Call for Papers deadline is May 1, 2008

http://www.pnsqc.org/

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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.

http://www.qatest.org

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* XP Days Benelux 2008, 20-21 November 2008 in 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.

http://www.xpday.net

*** 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.

http://www.softdevlinks.com/

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* Future Issues of Methods & Tools

In future issues, you will find articles on:

  • We Increment to Adapt, We Iterate to Improve
  • Acceptance Test Driven Development
  • UML versus DML
  • Risk management, the Evo way
  • Software Patterns
  • 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
  • Metrics for Code Review
  • Database Modelling and XML

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The content of this publication cannot be reproduced without prior written consent of the publisher - Copyright (C) 2008, Martinig & Associates

 
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