Workshop on Managing Technical Debt at ICSE 2013

Fourth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt at ICSE 2013
San Francisco, California, May 20, 2013
Invited Speaker: Steve McConnell

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/community/td2013/

On May 20, 2013, we will be conducting a workshop in conjunction with the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2013) in San Francisco to scrutinize the diverse issues that are related to technical debt and the software development lifecycle.

Managing technical debt is a broad concern of software engineering that blends research and practice. This can be seen from the program that covers topics such as models for measuring and optimizing technical debt, economic models, tool support, managing dependencies, empirical studies, and use of the metaphor and related techniques in practice. To encourage interactive discussion, brainstorming, and community building the workshop will consist of short presentations from the accepted papers. These short presentations will provide a basis for the participants to investigate further open research questions and challenges in practice. It is for that purpose that the program includes sessions dedicated to open discussion.

We invite members of the software engineering community to join us. The details of the program and other logistics are at our workshop site.

– Robert Nord, SEI

SATURN 2013 Super-Early-Bird Registration Expires March 10

If you are a practicing or aspiring software architect, the SEI Software Architecture Technology User Network (SATURN) 2013 Conference offers courses, presentations, tutorials, and talks providing technical advice and knowledge around four architectural themes:

• Front-end architectures: impact of living on the edge
• Back-end architectures and application hosting: go to the cloud or stay on the ground?
• Methods and tools: go with the flow or go your own way?
• Technical leadership: hard skills and soft skills

SATURN 2013 will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 29 through May 3, 2013. Register for the SATURN software architecture conference before March 10 at  to save $300 off the regular registration fee.

SATURN will feature thought-provoking and inspiring keynote and invited talks from leaders in the fields of software architecture and software development:

• Stephan Murer, Credit Suisse: 15 Years of SOA at Credit Suisse: Lessons Learned and Remaining Challenges
• Scott Berkun, author and frequent contributor at publications including Harvard Business Review and Business Week: WordPress.com and the Future of Work
• Mary Poppendieck, author and expert on Lean development: Learning to Surf
• Philippe Kruchten, leader and innovator in the field of software architecture for 35 years: Games Architects Play: On Reasoning Fallacies, Cognitive Biases, and Politics

Steve McConnell to Speak at Fourth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt (ICSE 2013)

Fourth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt at ICSE 2013
San Francisco, California, May 20, 2013
Submission deadline: February 7, 2013
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/community/td2013/

The submission deadline for the Fourth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt is fast approaching on February 7.

We just learned that Steve McConnell, expert on technical debt, accepted our offer to be a featured speaker at the workshop.

Steve McConnell is CEO and Chief Software Engineer at Construx Software. Steve is the author of Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art (2006), Code Complete (1993, 2004), Rapid Development (1996), Software Project Survival Guide (1998), and Professional Software Development (2004). His first two books won Software Development magazine’s Jolt Excellence award for best programming books of their years.

Call for Papers, Fourth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt at ICSE 2013

Fourth International Workshop on Managing Technical Debt at ICSE 2013
San Francisco, California, May 20, 2013
Submission deadline: February 7, 2013
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/community/td2013/

On May 20, 2013, we will be organizing a workshop in conjunction with the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2013) in San Francisco to scrutinize the diverse issues that are related to technical debt and the software development lifecycle. We invite practitioners and researchers to join us in discussing early findings, future directions, experiences, and results. We are seeking papers on practical experience with technical debt, and approaches to evaluate and manage technical debt. The details of the call for papers and other logistics are at our workshop site.

SEI Virtual Event: Architecting in a Complex World

Don’t let complexity defeat your system development effort. This SEI virtual event takes you in depth into three keys to succeed with system development in the midst of complexity.

Date: January 16, 2013
Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM ET
Cost: Complimentary

Register now.

About the Event

SATURN 2013, Minneapolis MN April 29-May 3: Call for Submissions

In 2013, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Architecture Technology User Network (SATURN) software architecture onference will celebrate its 9th year. Each year SATURN attracts an international audience of practicing software architects, industry thought leaders, developers, technical managers, and researchers to share ideas, insights, and experience about effective architecture-centric practices for developing and maintaining software-intensive systems.

SEI Podcast Series: An Architecture-Focused Measurement Framework for Managing Technical Debt

Managing technical debt, which refers to the rework and degraded quality resulting from overly hasty delivery of software capabilities to users, is an increasingly critical aspect of producing cost-effective, timely, and high-quality software products. A delicate balance is needed between the desire to release new software capabilities rapidly to satisfy users and the desire to practice sound software engineering that reduces rework. In this podcast at the SEI website, Ipek Ozkaya discusses the SEI’s research on the strategic management of technical debt, which involves decisions made to defer necessary work during the planning or execution of a software project.

Links: Ipek Ozkaya on Technical Debt, Agile, and Architecture

In this interview with Ipek Ozkaya of the SEI at the techdebt report blog, Ipek discusses definitions of “technical debt,” the connections between technical debt and Agile development practices, SEI research in the management of technical debt, measurement, and other related topics.

Readers will also be interested in this post at the SEI blog titled “Strategic Management of Architectural Technical Debt” by SEI Principal Researcher Douglas C. Schmidt (who was a keynote speaker at SATURN 2012). In this post, Doug reprises Ipek’s talk on the strategic management of technical debt at the SEI-hosted Agile Research Forum.

Ipek Ozkaya is a senior member of the technical staff at SEI who works to develop empirical methods for improving software development efficiency and system evolution with a focus on software architecture practices, software economics, and requirements management. Her latest publications include multiple articles on these subjects focusing on agile architecting, dependency management, and architectural technical debt. Ozkaya serves on the advisory board of IEEE Software.

SATURN 2012 Keynote: Michael Stal, Win-Win With Agile Architecture

Win-Win with Agile Architecture
Michael Stal, Siemens Corporate Research

This keynote covered software architecture and how it can be combined with Agile in systematic way; perspectives on agility and architecture.

“Experts solve problems, geniuses avoid them” (Einstein). Architects should be geniuses.

Architecture and design are two sides of the coin. If you knew everything in advance, you could design the best architecture. Waterfall would be a perfect fit.  But the real world is not perfect.

The other side of the coin is represented by the Agile Manifesto. In software architecture, embracing change is important. However, change should be planned.

Something for Everyone at SATURN 2012

Whether you are an aspiring software architect or an experienced practitioner, the SATURN 2012 Conference offers courses, presentations, tutorials, and talks tailored to your level of knowledge and experience.

Relative newcomers to architecture-centric engineering and development can take the introductory course in the SEI Software Architecture Curriculum, Software Architecture: Principles and Practices (SAPP) on Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8 at a discounted price. This popular course, offered each year at SATURN and taught this year by Rob Wojcik of the SEI, introduces participants to the essentials of software architecture. Also offered at SATURN this year is a half-day tutorial on Tuesday, May 8 by Peter Eeles of IBM Rational titled Software Architect 101. This tutorial (T1) provides attendees with a solid grounding in all aspects of software architecture and a framework on which they can build a deeper understanding of the role of the architect. Other Tuesday tutorials cover effective stakeholder collaboration (T2), integration of software architecture-centric methods into object-oriented analysis and design (T3), and architectural implications of cloud computing (T4).