Developing, building, and testing. How do it the best? Learning from the world leader

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gicio

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Developing, building, and testing. How do it the best? Learning from the world leader - Microsoft



I'm very interested in how the developing/build/testing workflow @ Microsoft looks like. I think Microsoft as world leader in software developing business must have a very good workflow. Does anyone know how the development flow @ Microsoft looks like?

I'm also interested in the workflow in your company perhaps the workflow in your company better then @ Microsoft? What do you think about test driven development?


Regards,

Gicio
 
Re: Developing, building, and testing. How do it the best? Learning from the world leader

gicio said:
Developing, building, and testing. How do it the best? Learning from the world leader - Microsoft



I'm very interested in how the developing/build/testing workflow @ Microsoft looks like. I think Microsoft as world leader in software developing business must have a very good workflow. Does anyone know how the development flow @ Microsoft looks like?

I'm also interested in the workflow in your company perhaps the workflow in your company better then @ Microsoft? What do you think about test driven development?


Regards,

Gicio
Click to expand...

The truth is that each team at Microsoft is given a great deal of freedom in deciding how they want to manage their projects. This can depend on the size of the project, the timeframe, the budget and even just who is involved. I think this is one of the strengths of the company.

Though I can say one common aspect is the general organizational style. On any project there are three basic forces: Development, Test and Program Management. Ideally, these three forces should be roughly equal in importance. The function of PM is to handle all creative decisions and scheduling. Development implements the specs and plans created by PM. And Test ensures the quality of the work of both PM and Dev. As long as no one force assumes too much importance things run pretty smoothly.

I think one of the inherent flaws in the current games industry (and why it is about 10 years behind applications in terms of management) is that the Developers pretty much have total control of the whole project. No developer, no matter how long they have been doing their job or how good they are at it, should ever be moved to management unless they actually have good management skills.
 
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