The world of software development is full of declarative documents happy to tell you the RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS. From the Agile Manifesto to the Twelve Factor App, there is no shortage of opinionated, sometimes overwrought, statements of purpose that a new or forming development team can adopt in order to quickly align themselves on any number of methodology and process decisions. The time may eventually come when a team may also benefit from using the same approach to write their own manifesto, documenting their internal standards and practices. This can be especially useful for a large project that will involve many architectural decisions or bring together team members not accustomed to working together towards a common goal. While time consuming, the process of formulating a manifesto for a project can force a healthy debate about important questions, while keeping things light and not bogging the team down in mind-numbing design documentation -- a particular advantage for teams employing an Agile methodology. In this session, we will first examine a number of well-known and popular development manifestos, including ones with particular resonance or applicability for the Drupal community. Next, we will look at a real-world case study of a development team that used the manifesto approach to reduce uncertainty at the beginning of design and development on a major initiative to do a ground-up redesign of their custom distribution in Drupal 8. How did this process work? What benefits or challenges has it produced for the team and their stakeholders? How does the result compare to traditional design documentation? A recording of this presentation from TexasCamp 2018 is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiYNOconVB8

1. MANIFESTO-DRIVEN
DEVELOPMENT
PAUL GROTEVANT
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

2. MANIFESTO-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
WHOAMI
▸ Manager in central IT group at University of Texas at Austin
▸ We build Drupal distributions that other people use to build
sites
▸ UT Austin since 2002 (mostly)
▸ Drupal user since ~2008
▸ Co-organizer, DrupalCon Higher Education Summits, 2016 and
2018
▸ https://www.drupal.org/u/gravelpot

3. MANIFESTO-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
WHY THIS TALK?
▸ I am a total sucker for a good manifesto, and I never really
thought about why
▸ It’s a common genre for sharing ideas in our industry, and
it could be useful to understand why
▸ The process of writing a manifesto was useful and
interesting for our team, and it could be useful for your
team, too

4. MANIFESTO-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
TODAY’S AGENDA
▸ Introduction and theory of manifestos as a genre
▸ Manifestos for business and software
▸ When does your team need its own manifesto?
▸ How do you go about making one?
▸ What are the benefits and challenges of this process?

5. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC
DECLARATIONS
PART 1
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6. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS
“MANIFESTO,” DEFINED
mid 17th century: from Italian, from manifestare, from Latin, ‘make public,’ from manifestus ‘obvious’
A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the
intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual,
group, political party or government.
A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion
or public consensus or promotes a new idea with
prescriptive notions for carrying out changes the author
believes should be made.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto

7. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS
MANIFESTOS HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF USE CASES
▸ Religious/spiritual
▸ Political
▸ Art/culture
▸ Business
▸ Technology
▸ Personal

8. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS
WHY DO MANIFESTOS WORK AS A GENRE?
▸ Strong opinions and simple storylines are attractive in a
complex world
▸ They challenge and provoke
▸ They can feel like magic
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/manifestos-a-manifesto-the-10-things-all-manifestos-need/372135/

9. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS
BENEFITS OF MANIFESTOS
▸ Serves as either a statement of principles or a bold call to
action (or both).
▸ Usually brief and readable enough to review often (daily?)
to help reinforce priorities and provide inspiration.
▸ Allows the present group (or self) to communicate with the
future group (or self) across time.
Source: https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-and-why-to-write-your-own-personal-manifesto/

10. I AM THE LORD THY GOD, THOU
SHALL NOT HAVE ANY GODS
BEFORE ME.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uDAhWukHyMsc9eHHJ2-QnGMyW3M=/0x0:1920x1080/1200x800/filters:focal(669x179:975x485)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54262177/tencommandmentscover.0.png

11. WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT,
THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY
ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN
UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, THAT AMONG THESE ARE
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
https://origins.osu.edu/sites/origins.osu.edu/files/9%20Declaration%20of%20Independence.jpg

12. I HAVE A DREAM THAT MY FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN WILL
ONE DAY LIVE IN A NATION WHERE THEY WILL NOT BE
JUDGED BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN BUT BY THE
CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER.
https://newsdesk.si.edu/sites/default/files/photos/MLK_Adelman_NPG_2006_16_crop.jpg

13. EXCEPT IN STRUGGLE, THERE IS
NO MORE BEAUTY. NO WORK
WITHOUT AN AGGRESSIVE
CHARACTER CAN BE A
MASTERPIECE. POETRY MUST BE
CONCEIVED AS A VIOLENT
ATTACK ON UNKNOWN FORCES,
TO REDUCE AND PROSTRATE
THEM BEFORE MAN.
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2014/06/tumblr_mbbv9a2N3o1rnh7neo1_1280-1/lead_large.jpg?1522689454

14. SHOOTING MUST BE DONE ON LOCATION. PROPS
AND SETS MUST NOT BE BROUGHT IN (IF A
PARTICULAR PROP IS NECESSARY FOR THE STORY,
A LOCATION MUST BE CHOSEN WHERE THIS PROP
IS TO BE FOUND).

16. https://www.holstee.com

17. https://www.holstee.com/collections/all

18. https://www.holstee.com/pages/choose-your-plan

20. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS
WHAT MAKES A MANIFESTO SUCCESSFUL?
▸ The manifesto resonates with people and expresses principles
that they share
▸ The manifesto is simple and concise
▸ The manifesto is created by a group of people from different
organizations who may compete, but share the same values and
principles
▸ The manifesto is backed by a community where people can
share ideas and experiences about how they’ve actually applied
the ideas in the manifesto in their actual context
Source: https://kentmcdonald.com/collection-of-manifestos/

21. MANIFESTOS FOR BUSINESS
AND SOFTWARE
PART 2
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/images/icp/U010027L69409M16/us__en_us__ibm100__system_360__people_at_360__800x620.jpg

22. NETWORKED MARKETS ARE BEGINNING TO SELF-ORGANIZE
FASTER THAN THE COMPANIES THAT HAVE TRADITIONALLY
SERVED THEM. THANKS TO THE WEB, MARKETS ARE BECOMING
BETTER INFORMED, SMARTER, AND MORE DEMANDING OF
QUALITIES MISSING FROM MOST BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS.
https://kaylaprendergast.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/cluetrain.jpg

24. WE ARE UNCOVERING
BETTER WAYS OF
DEVELOPING
SOFTWARE BY DOING
IT AND HELPING
OTHERS DO IT.
The Agile Manifesto, 2001

28. https://12factor.net

29. https://12factor.net

30. https://thephpleague.com

31. https://thephpleague.com/#quality

32. MANIFESTOS FOR BUSINESS AND SOFTWARE
MOTIVATIONS FOR BUSINESS AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT MANIFESTOS
▸ Challenge the status quo
▸ Establish shared understanding of best practices
▸ End what doesn’t work
▸ Inspire community
▸ Gain social media notoriety
▸ Have fun

33. https://www.halfarsedagilemanifesto.org

34. MANIFESTOS FOR DRUPAL
PART 2B
https://austin2014.drupal.org/sites/default/files/images/drupalcon-portland-group-photo.png

35. http://blog.dcycle.com/manifesto/

36. http://www.darrenmothersele.com/blog/2015/02/26/drupal-site-builder-manifesto/

37. https://github.com/davidhwang/horseman

38. https://twitter.com/eatings/status/983931796038569985

39. MANIFESTOS FOR BUSINESS AND SOFTWARE
HOW DO SOFTWARE MANIFESTOS MEASURE UP?
▸ Resonant?
▸ Simple?
▸ Originated by groups with shared values?
▸ Backed by community?

40. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A
MANIFESTO
PART 3
https://www.norris160.org/sites/default/files/page_images/3/team-sport_1_0.jpg

41. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
CONDITIONS THAT MAY SUGGEST YOU NEED A MANIFESTO
▸ A new or reorganized team
▸ A shift in direction
▸ New technology
▸ New methodology
▸ A large project

42. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
OUR TEAM’S PROBLEM
▸ Starting work on rebuilding our well-established Drupal 7
campus distribution in Drupal 8 (code name: UTDK8)
▸ Adding three new members to team who did not previously
participate in development or sustainment of D7 distro
▸ Uncertainty about how to proceed with many of the new
technology choices in D7 (Composer, CMI, Layout tools,
base theme)
▸ Bringing in stakeholders early in the process to get feedback

43. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
OUR PROJECT MANIFESTO’S GOALS
▸ Serve as a vehicle for defining and working through critical
decisions that need to be made on how to use new
technologies
▸ Align team members who are working on this project together
for the first time
▸ Provide a common, agreed-upon internal guidepost for team
standards and design decisions
▸ Provide distillation of important design decisions to get
feedback from external stakeholders

44. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
PICK A COLLABORATIVE WRITING TOOL
▸ Use something that allows interactive commenting/
suggestions
▸ Google Docs
▸ GitHub

45. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
SET SOME GROUND RULES
▸ Most memorable manifestos use a consistent structure —
consider picking a style from popular examples:
▸ “Ten Commandments”
▸ “This over that”
▸ “So that X, we will do Y”
▸ Consider setting definitions for tricky words like “should,”
“will,” “must,” etc.

46. THE KEY WORDS “MUST”, “MUST NOT”,
“REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”,
“SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, AND
“OPTIONAL” IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE TO BE
INTERPRETED AS DESCRIBED IN RFC 2119.
RFC 2119 - Key words for use in RFCs
to Indicate Requirement Levels
YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO

47. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
DESIGNATE A PRIMARY AUTHOR TO WRITE FIRST DRAFT
▸ Gets the words for the first draft out on the page faster
▸ Keeps the ideas consistent to start if everything comes out
of the same person’s head

48. THE FOLLOWING PAGE PROVIDES A HIGHLY OPINIONATED
PRESCRIPTION FOR BUILDING A DRUPAL 8 DISTRIBUTION. IT IS
DESIGNED TO BE A STRAW MAN TO BE DISPUTED, CONTRADICTED,
RIDICULED, AND SUBSEQUENTLY REVISED – IN EFFECT, A RECULER
POUR MIEUX SAUTER – WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY GROW INTO A
BLUEPRINT FOR AN ACTUAL DISTRIBUTION DESIGN DOCUMENT.
Introduction to the UT Drupal Kit 8 Manifesto
YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO

50. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
OUR MANIFESTO OUTLINE
▸ Composer
▸ Configuration Management
▸ Content
▸ Layout and Content Placement
▸ Custom Functionality
▸ Theme
▸ “Ten Commandments” Summary

51. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
FORMAT
▸ Within each section of the outline:
▸ Guidelines
▸ “Non-functional example files may be provided for .gitignore, circle.yml,
pantheon.yml, and composer.json as part of the distribution.”
▸ Reasoning
▸ “Defining the .gitignore, circle.yml, pantheon.yml, and composer.json
files as example files allows the individual developer to use Composer
himself/herself, while adding minimal work for the distribution
maintainers (i.e., scripted conversion of example files to real files, and
saving those changes back to the example files).”

52. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
UTDK8 TEN COMMANDMENTS
‣ The distribution shall be composed using Composer and will assume the
use of a web subdirectory docroot.
‣ Updates to the distribution shall be applied by obtaining the updated
codebase, running composer update, and running database updates.
‣ The distribution shall not interact with Drupal's Configuration Management
system. The individual developer shall be responsible for using
Configuration Management in a manner appropriate for each site instance.
‣ Reusable content shall be defined as Drupal blocks.
‣ Page-specific content shall be defined as Drupal fields; complex fields shall
be defined as Paragraph Types.

53. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
UTDK8 TEN COMMANDMENTS (CONT.)
‣ A layout tool shall be included which will allow content builders to choose between
multiple page layouts and assign both reusable content and page-specific content on
a per-page basis.
‣ A branded theme shall be provided that may be sub-themed, and can be used
independently of the distribution.
‣ This branded theme shall follow principles of atomic design, and shall use the
Bootstrap grid system.
‣ Addition, configuration, and management of contributed modules shall be the
responsibility of the individual developer, except for contributed modules that are
dependencies to the distribution's custom functionality.
‣ Issues, feature requests, and in-progress changes shall be directly accessible by
individual developers via Enterprise Github.

54. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
SHAMELESS PLUG
To learn more about our project and the actual technical
architecture that has evolved out of this manifesto, attend the
Saturday session “Drupal Distro FTW”, 2:30-3:30pm in
Magnolia B.

55. YOUR TEAM MAY NEED A MANIFESTO
LESSONS LEARNED FROM OUR MANIFESTO JOURNEY
▸ A manifesto is not a design document. You may still need
one of those, or not, depending on your project process.
▸ The manifesto format lends itself to absolutist
interpretation. Be conscious of how that will affect people’s
use of it.
▸ Your manifesto should include everything it needs to
answer the problem it is trying to solve, but not one thing
more.

56. REFERENCES
https://swimmingthedepths.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/library-36480328_std.jpg

57. REFERENCES
EFFECTIVE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS
▸ The Ten Commandments - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Ten_Commandments
▸ The Declaration of Independence - https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/
declaration
▸ “I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. - https://
www.archives.gov/files/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf
▸ The Manifesto of Futurism - http://www.italianfuturism.org/manifestos/
foundingmanifesto/
▸ Dogme 95 - http://www.dogme95.dk/dogma-95/
▸ The Holstee Manifesto - https://www.holstee.com/pages/manifesto

58. REFERENCES
MANIFESTOS FOR BUSINESS AND SOFTWARE
▸ The Cluetrain Manifesto - http://www.cluetrain.com
▸ The Agile Manifesto - http://agilemanifesto.org
▸ Declaration of Interdependence - http://pmdoi.org
▸ The Twelve-Factor App - https://12factor.net
▸ The League of Extraordinary Packages - https://
thephpleague.com
▸ The Manifesto for Half-Arsed Agile Software Development -
https://www.halfarsedagilemanifesto.org

59. REFERENCES
DRUPAL DEVELOPMENT MANIFESTOS
▸ Dcycle Manifesto - http://blog.dcycle.com/manifesto/
▸ Horseman - https://github.com/davidhwang/horseman
▸ The Drupal Site Builder Manifesto - http://
www.darrenmothersele.com/blog/2015/02/26/drupal-
site-builder-manifesto/

60. REFERENCES
MISC. RESOURCES
▸ Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto
▸ The Manifesto Project - http://www.1000manifestos.com
▸ A Collection of Manifestos - https://kentmcdonald.com/
collection-of-manifestos/
▸ RFC 2119 - https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119

61. EMAIL ME: PFG@UTEXAS.EDU
QUESTIONS?
https://ruben.verborgh.org/images/blog/boring.jpg