Passing the Joel Test in the PHP World

Who am I?● Lorna Mitchell● PHP Developer at Ibuildings● Editor at http://techportal.ibuildings.com● Host at DPC 2010● Personal site http://lornajane.net● Twitter: @lornajane

Who is Joel?● Joel Spolsky● Founder of Fog Creek Software● Blogs at http://joelonsoftware.com● Author of numerous books, particularly Best

Software Writing● Co-founder of http://stackoverflow.com

What is the Joel Test?● 12 questions about your organisation● "... a highly irresponsible, sloppy test to rate the

quality of a software team"● Rule-of-thumb for best practice● How does it apply to PHP?

The Joel Test (1-6)● Do you use source control?● Can you make a build in one step?● Do you make daily builds?● Do you have a bug database?● Do you fix bugs before writing new code?● Do you have an up-to-date schedule?

The Joel Test (7-12)● Do you have a spec?● Do programmers have quiet working

conditions?● Do you use the best tools money can buy?● Do you have testers?● Do new candidates write code during their

interview?● Do you do hallway usability testing?

What is the Joel Test For?● Scoring your current organisation● Improving your current organisation● Scoring your next organisation

http://jobs.joelonsoftware.com

   

Source Control● Central storage● Change history● Enables collaboration● Manage multiple versions

Source Control Solutions● CVS

● http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/● Subversion (svn)

● http://subversion.tigris.org/● Git

● http://git.or.cz/● Bazaar (bzr)

● http://www.bazaar-vcs.org/

Centralised Source Control

userrepo

user

useruser

Distributed Source Control

reporepo

reporepo

repo

Distributed Source Control● Local machine has repository● Has full history● Commit locally● Commit globally later

Recommendations

subversion

Developersusing command lineIDE pluginsgit-svn, bzr-svn bridges

Designersusing TortoiseSVN

Managersusing WebSVN

Resources● git-svn

● http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-svn.html● bzr-svn

● http://bazaar-vcs.org/BzrForeignBranches/Subversion● WebSVN

● http://www.websvn.info/● TortoiseSVN

● http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/

   

   

PHP is Interpreted● So do we care about builds?

What's in a Build?● Code compilation● Document generation● Test suite execution and feedback● Packaging● Application deployment

   

Sounds like ...Continuous Integration

and Deployment

Deployment● Automated deployment

● upload code● apply database patches● handle uploaded files and existing database● populate caches● switch over to new version

● Automated rollback

Continuous Integration● A running process● Responds to commit (and/or hooks)● Performs tasks

● No "forgetting" to run the tests● Gives feedback

Continuous Integration

Continuous Integration

Continuous Integration Solutions● Hudson https://hudson.dev.java.net/● phpUnderControl http://phpundercontrol.org/● Xinc http://sourceforge.net/projects/xinc/

   

● COMPULSORY

I have a personal bug tracker

Bug Trackers● Capture features/tasks● Who does what?● Progress for each task, keep updated● Can reallocate items

Bug Tracker Solutions● Trac http://trac.edgewall.org/● Mantis http://www.mantisbt.org/● Jira http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/● Eventum http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/Eventum/● RedMine http://www.redmine.org● Arbit http://arbittracker.org● Mtrack http://bitbucket.org/wez/mtrack/

   

Joel Says● Keep bugs near to zero● Cannot estimate bug fix time● Minimise unknowns

Capturing Bugs● As a minimum, record bug● Buggy behaviour● Expected behaviour● Smallest possible replication case

How to Report a Bug● http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html

it's not worth reporting that the program generated an error unless you can also report what the error message was.

if a computer does anything unexpected, freeze

Some of the worst bug reports I've ever seen come from programmers

Try to remember as much detail as you can about what you were doing to it when it did fall over, and if you see any patterns, mention them. Anything you can provide has to be some help.

http://tinyurl.com/8vx3s

   

   

Scheduling Workflowcollect

requirements

write specification

separate into discrete tasks

estimate task duration

Who Estimates?● Ideally the do-er● At least someone who could do it● Never cut estimates

Specification● Holds the information needed for each task● May include acceptance criteria● More detail means fewer misunderstandings

● mockups/pictures● form fields

Schedule● What each person is doing● When it is due to finish● Can record progress/actions● What is next

Agile and Timings● Agile development is reactive● Always on time at start of sprint● Estimates and spec detail can

be prepared per sprint

Burndown Charts● List of tasks● Tasks have estimates● Sprint is as many tasks as you have man-hours

Burndown Example

Burndown Example

Task Est imate Mon Tue Wed ThuAssemble pre-built frame 2 2 2 2 2 2Paint exterior 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1Decorate bedrooms 8 8 8 8 8 8Decorate kitchen 7 7 7 7 7 7Decorate bathroom 5 5 5 5 5 5Decorate reception rooms 7 7 7 7 7 7Fit carpets 5 5 5 5 5 5Add furniture 1 1 1 1 1 1

Fr i

Paint windowframes

Burndown Example

Burndown Example

Task Est imate Mon Tue Wed ThuAssemble pre-built frame 2 0 0 0 0 0Paint exterior 2 0 0 0 0 0

1 1 1 1 1 1Decorate bedrooms 8 8 8 8 8 8Decorate kitchen 7 5 5 5 5 5Decorate bathroom 5 5 5 5 5 5Decorate reception rooms 7 7 7 7 7 7Fit carpets 5 5 5 5 5 5Add furniture 1 1 1 1 1 1

Fr i

Paint windowframes

Burndown Example

Burndown Example

Burndown Example

   

Interruptions

Meetings

Phone

Email

   

Tools● Software● Hardware● Resources● All cost money (or time, or effort)

Software● IDE

● Zend Studio● Visual Studio● many free alternatives

● Graphics● Photoshop● Paint Shop Pro● free alternatives

   

Hardware

   

   

   

Resources● Magazines

● php|architect● Site memberships

● Experts' Exchange (pay per question)● Safari

● Books● Conferences/Events

   

Assessing Candidate Code● During interview● As part of recruitment process● Ibuildings uses this● The coding task makes a big impression on the

candidate

   

   

   

Testers are not developers

Developers are not testers

Tools for Testing in PHP● Unit Testing

● PHPUnit http://phpunit.de● SimpleTest http://simpletest.org● phpt http://qa.php.net/write-test.php

● Browser Testing● Selenium http://seleniumhq.org/

   

That was the Joel Test... what's missing?

   

Do you use test-driven development?

   

Do you avoid reinventing the wheel?

   

Do you support the professional development

of your employees?

And?

   

?Questions?

http://joind.in/1249