e-Talk Radio: Magee, Stan, and Peter Voldner, 22 March 2001

just start doing it.

Stan: No, you can't, Carol. Because first of all, the words in there are probably words, in some instances, that are not in tune with the culture of your company. You may call requirements documentation, you may call it requirements specification. So you've got to make sure that you have a bridge from the terminology that you use in your company to the standards that you are going to install. So you have to make sure you have training, have to make sure that people thoroughly understand the standards and how to use the best of practices. And this is a continuing process, that you are going to be continually upgrading your standards as long as you're producing and maintaining software. This is not a one-shot program. Thank you.

Carol: And we will be back to sum up after these short messages, with some ideas, some Web sites, and more information on process standards for software.

And we're back. And this hour, as typical, has gone just like the wind. We've been talking about software engineering standards. And for those of you who are still with us, I'm sure you'll agree that this was not a boring subject by any means. It may have surprised you that it wasn't like sitting through a one-hour root canal by any means. And I'd like to very much thank my guests, Peter Voldner and Stan Magee, and say thank you for sharing your hour, your expertise with us. This has been a great time for me to learn a lot more about software engineering standards. So thank you for being part of the show.

Peter: We're delighted, Carol.

Stan: Thank you very much.

Carol: And if people would like to hear more, one of the things that I'm really impressed with is that you haven't used any high-falutin' acronyms. I don't think that you've used any terms that people in software engineering wouldn't be able to understand. And if they'd like to hear more, if they'd like to bring you in to talk to their management, to talk to their CIOs, their Vice Presidents about how easy it is to actually install, and the benefits of software engineering standards, you two are available for hire?

Stan: That's a true statement, Carol.

Carol: Okay, and the best place to reach you both would be at the www.12207.com Web site, is that correct?

Stan: Right.

Peter: That's correct.

Carol: Okay. And I'll give you both about a 30-second sound bite as soon as I introduce next week's show. And then we're going to be having to say we'll e-talk to you next week shortly. So next week's show, we are actually having a rebroadcast. The station had errantly, on March 15, rebroadcast half of Bret Pettichord's presentation on software designers and software testers and why they think differently, and halfway through, it may have appeared that we were schizophrenic and started the Elisabeth Hendrickson show. Well, for those of you who have been actively and on the edge of your seats waiting for the Elisabeth Hendrickson show on how to evaluate software tools, the six-step process, how to go about it, based on Elisabeth Hendrickson's award-winning article, I'd like to invite you to tune in next week when we'll be talking to Elisabeth Hendrickson. And it will be a pre-taped show, but you'll be able to listen and hear what steps you should go through to effectively evaluate software tools, to buy, evaluate, and choose for your company. The week after, we're going to have on April 4, a bonus show.