We spend so much time focusing on conventional programming. Everyone focuses on standards, code clarity, testing, and what gems to use. Let's chat about what's done before your fingers hit the keys. Let's talk about brainstorming, requirements, stakeholders, mock-ups, and writing solid user stories and acceptance tests with Cucumber. Every project has a story - how will your next one end?

1. It’s not just about code...
Dan Pickett

2. It’s about
efficacy in solving a
problem

3. Don’t Reinvent
minutiae

4. Don’t Reinvent
minutiae
Leverage Frameworks
to solve problems

5. Effectively Solve Problems With Frameworks:
• Brainstorming
• Conceptualization through Sketching and Design
Constraints
• Writing User Stories and Acceptance Tests with
SCRUM and XP
• Automated testing with RSpec and Cucumber
• Refining processes and working with a team...

6. CODE

7. CODE
Ok, well maybe a little code...

8. Agile SCRUM
XP

9. Agile SCRUM
XP
WTF?

10. We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

11. “ I believe that the hardest part of
software projects, the most common
source of project failure, is
communication with the customers
and users of that software ”
- Martin Fowler

12. Conceptualization
•Identify the problem
• Brainstorm on solutions
• Sketch Ideas

13. Identify Who Cares

14. New Hampshire Rubyists Want Us to Build Them A Site...
Who should we talk to?

15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/spine/263214639/
Listen,
then Ask

16. Why?

17. “I want a calendar”
• “...Why?”
• “So our users can stay up to date”
• “What do they want to be up to date
about?”
• “Our events and other local tech events.”
• “What other local events?”

18. Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?

19. Challenge

20. http://threetreesstudios.com/andscifi/tag/star-wars/
Brainstorming

21. Brainstorming Fundamentals
• There are no dumb ideas
• Don’t criticize other people’s ideas
• Build on other people’s ideas
• It’s about quantity, not quality
• Have a facilitator that enforces rules above

22. Affinity Grouping

23. Mind Maps

24. It’s about brain power...

25. Courtesy: Jason Robb
Sketching

26. Failure In Design

27. Design With Constraints

28. More on Sketching...

29. Words Matter...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterwalshprojects/
Maintain a Glossary

30. Words Matter...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enovember/3471675615/
Tell An Illustrated Story

31. User Stories

32. What’s a user story?
• indicates the person who is seeking some
type of value from the software
• describes functionality that delivers that
value
• includes acceptance tests that verify the
value is realized

33. User Stories
As a ... In order to...
I want to ... As a...
So that ... I want to...
As a NH rubyist
I want to post a job advertisement
So that interested candidates can inquire

34. User Stories
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable to users or customers
Estimatable
Small
Testable

35. Notice...
Independent?
Valuable?
Small?
• Editing?
• Search?
• Deletion?
• Archiving?
• Permissions?

36. More on User Stories

37. Acceptance Tests

38. Convey Stakeholder Expectations
• If I don’t enter a title or description, I should get
an error and the job should not be posted
• I should get a success message when I’ve entered
everything properly
• The listing should be publicly viewable upon
successful posting
• A job should display a title and description
• I must be logged in to create a new job

39. User Stories +
Acceptance Tests =
Cucumber

40. Features
features/post_a_job.feature

41. Scenarios

42. Scenarios

43. Scenarios

44. Scenarios

45. You’re the developer...
Are we done yet?

46. Wait!
Valuable to the user or customer

47. Most Importantly,
Assert Value

48. Steps
features/step_definitions/user_steps.rb
Then statements should have assertions

49. Lessons Learned
• AST Tables are no fun
• bmabey’s database_cleaner is awesome
• avoid sharing instance variables
• refactoring steps proves difficult
• slow

52. Lessons Learned
• AST Tables are no fun
• bmabey’s database_cleaner is awesome
• avoid sharing instance variables
• refactoring steps proves difficult
• slow

53. Track

54. Iterate

55. Don’t just be sorry.
Think for a second!!!!
Who broke the *#!?!#% build?
Continuous Integration

56. Don’t work in what you do
Work on what you do

57. Learning

58. “ As the number of people on a project
increases, however, so does the number
of communication paths. It doesn’t
increase additively, as the number of
people increases, it increases
multiplicatively, proportional to the
square of the number of people.
”
- Steve McConnell

59. Don’t Work With Bozos
Love the ones you work with...

60. Love what you do...

61. Love what you do...
obsess about how to make it better

62. Thanks!!!
Twitter: dpickett
Site: www.enlightsolutions.com
IRC: #railsbridge on FreeNode