Effective Software Development and Management

Registration and coffee

Prof. Bal Krishna Bal, Kathmandu University

From myths and fashion towards an evidence-based software engineering discipline, prof. Magne Jørgensen, Scienta and Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering

The software engineering discipline is influenced by numerous myths and over-simplifications. Some of them may be harmless, but others may hamper evidence-based, efficient practices and contribute to a fashion- and myth-based software engineering discipline. In this presentation I give examples of software engineering myths and over-simplifications, discuss how they are created and spread and illustrate how we should base important software engineering decisions and practices on available evidence from research, practice and local experimentation.

TECHNICAL TRACK 10.30 am - 1.30 pm

10:30 am - 11:30 am: The evolution of Java, Rafael Winterhalter, Scienta

With its ninth version, the Java platform has shifted gear and introduced biyearly releases. This was followed by a license change where Oracle, the steward of Java, now publishes a commercial and a non-commercial release of the JDK while other vendors took more space to publish their alternative builds of the JVM. And in another flood of news, the Java EE specification was terminated and resolved into the Jakarta EE namespace. A lot has been happening in the traditionally conservative Java ecosystem, to say the least, and many users are wondering if they still can rely on the platform. This talk summaries the changes that have been, that to expect and why the evolution of the platform is good news to the community.

11.30 am - 11.45 am: Coffe

11.45 am - 12.45 am: Scalable integration tests for React web apps using TypeScript, Erlend Viddal, Scienta

Improvements in tools have made testing the whole web application, not just the units, quick and effective. In this presentation I will show how testing the whole app can help you deploy your applications with next-level confidence. You will also learn techniques for writing test harnesses that will allow you to build and maintain hundreds of whole application tests using a few neat tricks from typescript.

12.45 am - 1.30 pm: Five key practices for succeeding with autonomous development teams, Stein Grimstad, Scienta

Autonomous teams appear to be the holy grail these days, and expected benefits often include improved development productivity, faster time to market, higher quality software, and less waste in the development process. However, many organizations that introduce autonomous teams struggle to get the promised benefits. In this experience-based talk, we will look at some key learnings from working with autonomous teams in several projects. The practices that will be discussed in the talk are:
* Establish business goal focus in the team
* Make sure the architecture is business-driven (not technology-driven)
* Invest in stable, well-defined contracts
* Automate regression testing, deployment, and monitoring.
* Reserve time for continuous process improvement and code refactoring

MANAGEMENT TRACK: 10.30 am - 1.30 pm

10.30 am - 11.30 am: Product owner and the autonomous team, Kjetil Karlsen, Promis

Nowadays more and more public and civil companies transform their implementation method of IT initiative from “waterfall” to agile”, from a project focus to product focus. There is also a huge focus on “autonomous teams” and the product owner. What is a product owner and what are his responsibilities, competence, and characteristics needed to fill the role? What are the conditions or environment the product owner needs to work under? In this session, we will address these questions, look at the connection between autonomous teams and the product owner, and look closer at the concept of product focus versus project focus. The outcome of this session will beside some definitions be a set of concrete recommendations, success factors and pitfalls to implementing agile, product-focused autonomous teams.

11.30 am - 11.45 am: Coffee

11.45 am - 12.30 am: Agile software development and benefits management: A perfect match, Magne Jørgensen, Scienta and Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering
The success of software development is much more than being “on time, on cost and with the specified functionality”. More importantly, it has to deliver benefits to its stakeholder that makes it worthwhile. At Simula Metropolitan we have conducted several studies on the relationship between software development practices, especially those related to agile development, and success in delivering good benefits. The presentation reports to what extent and which agile - and other - practices are connected with successful realisation of client benefits.

12.30 am - 1.30 pm: 5 Things: How to Rock Remote Work, Sven Peters, K15t (svenpet.com)

Remote work offers a lot of great benefits to both organizations and teams: access to a larger talent pool, flexible schedules, the option to work in pajamas, and much more. So why are so many companies failing with remote work or hesitate to give it a try?
Sven has been working remotely for 7 years and shares some tools and practices like a code review etiquette, share-or-it-didn’t-happen techniques, video conferencing rules, and much more. You’ll learn how to successfully set up your remote office, how to stay visible within your organization, and how to use the right tools in the right way

Lunch

TUTORIAL I: Introduction to Kotlin, Rafael Winterthaler, Scienta

In this tutorial, we will have a look at Kotlin, a modern functional programming language that runs on the JVM, as JavaScript or even natively. This workshop gives an introduction to the language by example and shows how Kotlin programs can be executed on multiple platforms. As a prerequisite, participants should understand basic Java programming but no other knowledge is required. To program along, please bring a laptop with an Internet connection. Please install a Git client beforehand.

2.45 pm - 4.15 pm: TUTORIAL II: Better estimation of size, effort and cost in software development, Stein Grimstad, Scienta & Magne Jørgensen, Simula Metropolitan

In this tutorial, you will learn about how to improve estimates of the size, effort, and cost of software development. The workshop will in particular focus on effort estimation in the early phases (bidding and planning), estimation in agile software development and how to assess and include uncertainty in your estimates. The tutorial will include exercises, so please bring a laptop. If you want to be well prepared for the tutorial, download and read the (free) book: link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-74953-2