Software Endgames: Eliminating Defects, Controlling Change, and the Countdown to On-Time Delivery

Chapter One. Introduction

I define the endgame of a software project in the following terms:

The endgame is the period of software development between the testers’first receipt of the software and the customers’first receipt of the product.

• In heavier-weight methodologies, the endgame is entered later in the project life cycle, with a much larger scope to be tested over the course of several iterations.

• In lighter-weight methodologies, the endgame may be entered quite early in the project life cycle, with a much smaller scope to be tested over the course of many iterations.

The endgame is really about testing, defect detection, and rework, ultimately leading to product stabilization and customer release.

Think of it in terms of the final ...