Better Software Articles

In Other Words

Take one phrase, throw in three different interpretations, and add zero communication: It all adds up to one big defect. Find out how paraphrasing can help you to uncover hidden problems.

Saving a Sinking Project

The project that was going to jump-start your career is sinking fast: The product is behind schedule, over budget, and riddled with bugs. Your “ship” is taking on water, and your team is threatening mutiny. How did you get into this mess? And how will you get out? Peter Clark shows you how to navigate the waters of project management.

What is Quality, Anyway

All year long we've been asking people in every phase of the software development lifecycle to tell us what quality means to them. We found that while most agree on what quality is, there's still controversy over how to achieve it.

Pace Wins the Race

Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their own opinions on hot topics. Find out what Peter Clark really thinks about overtime and why Lance Armstrong may hold the secret to success.

When Bad Performance Happens to Good Employees

Need a place to go to get the solutions you’ve been craving? Management Fix is what you’ve been looking for. In this issue, find out what to do when an employee who has historically performed well has a dry spell.

Gaming 101, IM Spam, and Computers That Pounce

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

Tacit Knowledge

We’re pleased to bring you technical editors that are well respected in their fields. Get their take on everything that relates to the industry, technically speaking. In this issue, learn how to move to that level of expertise where “you just know.”

Promises and Prescriptions

What if someone told you that the cure for project woes was to throw due dates out the window, stop doing so much, and embrace uncertainty? Is this a radical treatment or just snake oil? The theory of constraints says it will work. Frank Patrick will show you how.

An Elephant in the Room

We make software so that people can use it. Yet these users are so hard to define that they are often simply ignored. This six-step approach to Interaction Design can help you bring your customers down to size so that you can provide the right product for them.

No More Second-Class Testers!

Today's quality professionals should be more than bug finders—they should be an integral part of the development process, supplying product information through-out the application lifecycle, from requirements to release. Learn how you can be sure that your test team is diverse and skilled enough to meet these challenges.