Better Software Articles

The Power of Two

We’re pleased to bring you technical editors who are well respected in their fields. Get their take on everything that relates to the industry, technically speaking. In this issue, see how pair work benefits everyone and why two brains are better than one.

Grow Your Test Harness Naturally

Spring is in the air. It’s the time of year when plants wake from their winter dormancy and start growing out of control. Kind of like building a test harness. Take a tip from the Agile field this season and build your harness one test at a time. No fertilizer required.

Creative License

Project managers seldom worry about nurturing the creative sides of team members. But if you plan and schedule for creativity the way you do for the more tangible aspects of your software project, you might be pleasantly surprised at the practical results you gain.

Form Fitting: Patterns to Judge the Effectiveness of Use Cases

You don't have to be Giorgio Armani to fashion effective use cases. Use case patterns can provide you with a vocabulary to help you describe and judge the quality of your use cases. Find out how you can use these patterns to improve your requirements modelin

Show Me the Money

Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their opinions on hot topics. This month, read how adding gauges to your software can show stakeholders how well it is meeting their goals.

2004 Salary Survey

Each year we ask you, the readers, to tell us about your job, your experience, and your compensation. We then present our findings in a format that makes it easy to compare yourself to your peers. Check it out.

eXtreme Makeover

How one manager transformed an organization historically known for late delivery, poor quality, and low morale into an energized team that produces high quality software on schedule.

Testing with an Accent

It's a small world after all, and no where is that more evident than in the world of software, where differences in language and desktop settings can cause applications to crash with no warning.

Automation, Retaliation, and Litigation

Get the software engineering slant on items from the recent news.

The Peculiar Nature of Requirements

Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their opinions on hot topics. This month, Karl Wiegers shares some common misperceptions about requirements.