Some Agile Practices In Use for Library OSS and Stanford projects. A lively discussion ensued.

1. Agile Methodology, 
Innovation, and Quality
Naomi Dushay (on behalf of Bess Sadler)
Tom Cramer
Jessie Keck
Stanford University

2. (Some of our) Goals
 Sustainability / Supportability
 Adaptability to local needs
 InnovaDon and rapid development

3. Problem: $$$ to grow your own
Developing Local SoGware is Expensive:
• Elapsed Time
• Developer Cycles
• Sustainability
• Single point of failure?
Buying from Vendor also $$$

4. Solution: open source software
• start with exisDng funcDonality
• benefit from others’
• conDnuing work
• ideas
• spread risk across mulDple insDtuDons,
mulDple developers

5. Problem: local idiosyncrasies
Available: Want:

6. Solution: localize OSS
OSS
Localized

7. Problem: upgrading local code
OSS Code
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3
??? ???
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

8. Solution: local overrides
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3
Site1 Site2 Site3

9. Problem: integrating new functionality
Date Range Limit
Advanced Search

10. Solution: plugin architecture
Advanced Range
Search Limit

11. Problem: distributed developers

12. Solution: realtime contact
Weekly check‐ins
As need arises
Face‐to‐Face !!!

13. Problem: developer distrust
Their stuff is I hate his
always buggy code
I could do
If I had
this faster
Dme …
myself

14. Solution: good development practice
 Automat(able/ed) tests
 ConDnuous IntegraDon
 AutomaDc NoDficaDons
 Code Coverage Data
 Transparency
 DocumentaDon Coverage Data

15. Solution: no code without tests

16. Solution: test coverage transparency

17. Solution: automated test runs

18. Solution: test result transparency

20. Solution: auto change notification

21. Solution: change transparency

22. Solution: public shared code

23. Solution: doc transparency

24. Problem: endless discussion
I think you
Is this
should do it
approach okay
this way
w folks?
No, this
other
way

25. Solution: working code wins
I’m going to SuggesDon
do this
SuggesDon

26. Quote by ??
“When I see you
working together,
it’s like you’re all
on the same team.”

27. Problem: too many meetings

28. Solution: developer happy hours

29. Solution: dead week

30. Problem: competing priorities

31. Solution: iteration planning
Backlog Now

32. Solution: SMART goals
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• RealisDc
• Timely

33. Problem: lack of focus
Feature Feature Feature
Feature
Feature Feature Feature
Feature Feature
Feature
Feature

34. Solution: focused iterations
Feature Feature
Feature Feature Feature
Feature Feature Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Backlog Now

35. Solution: max 2 projects/developer
Who Project 1 Project 2
Naomi Dushay SearchWorks ‐ MHLD HypaDa ‐ Demo
Jessie Keck HypaDa ‐ Demo SearchWorks ‐
MHLD
Jon Lavigne Heritrix Web crawl Page Req Forms
Willy Mene DOR Lyberservices
Michael Klein Argo ‐ x (Shark Dirigible)

36. Problem: lack of visible progress

37. Solution: short iterations
1 week or
Short is: 2 weeks or
1 month or …

38. Solution: good communication
• Regular meeDngs
• Email list
• Wikis
• Tracking system (e.g. JIRA)

39. Solution: planned work is public

40. Solution: progress is public

41. Problem: sharing knowledge locally
I wonder if
someone Eh, I’ll just
can help figure it out

42. Solution: open sight lines
Hey Willy:
Have a sec? Jessie, can
you look at
this?

43. Solution: non‐developers, too
Lynn, is this
what you
meant? Jennifer, your
design is tough to
program, can we
modify it?

44. Problem: unhappy “customers”
But I
This isn’t
implemented
what I asked
the spec
for
I didn’t realize it
would look like this

45. Solution: collaborative design

46. Solution: Behavior Driven Dev
When I am on the search results page
Then id 867 should be before 567
And if I select “Dtle” from the search pulldown
Then id 567 should be before 867
It should …

47. Problem: need stable test data
Tests keep failing
because the data
keeps changing

48. Solution: mocks, stubs, fixtures
Fixtures: data for tests
Mocks: I don’t need an actual object, just a
placeholder with a lijle bit of the informaDon
Stubs: I know I’m gonna call a method with certain
arguments, and I know what it returns and it isn’t
the method I’m tesDng right now

49. Problem: no local TDD
I’ve been
meaning to
do it…

50. Solution: requirement of OSS
No Code Without
Passing Tests!
OK

51. Problem: scrum unrealistic
We have too many
simultaneous
projects
I can’t dedicate 5
developers to a
single project, even
short term

52. Solution: take pieces of Agile
• Short iteraDons of narrow focus
• No code without tests
• ConDnuous IntegraDon
• AutomaDc noDficaDons
• Issue Tracking System
• RealDme CommunicaDon across roles and locaDons
• …