Thanks to all who attended our TIMEOC meeting.

IntroTIMEOC got us off to a great start as we all go to know each other better and what we want from the group.

TalkTIMEOC then got started talking about project management, including the book Rapid Development. We also talked about how a good project manager is critical to the relationship between customers and software developers. Sometimes a developer can also act as the project manager, but somehow customer expectations should be managed to increase the chance for success.

Along these lines, we discussed a sample of one possible classification system for bug severity:

1. Severity One (Critical): This kind of bug crashes the system or causes a restart.  This might be forcing a restart of the computer or even just the browser used to view the web page.  The browser itself may not crash, but the web page may get to a state that cannot be fixed without a restarting it.
2. Severity 2 (High): This bug causes a requirement to be missed. Unlike what people normally associate with bugs, the system may appear to work fine.  It may not even give an error.  But if there is something that is supposed to be there that isn’t it will appear on the bug list alongside the errors and crashes on the bug report.
3. Severity 3 (Medium): This is a bug where a certain feature is possible, but not in the most obvious of best way.  It more than likely requires a workaround to get the feature to work (like clicking the “Save” button twice, or reloading a page every time it is opened.  Depending on the nature of this bug, it may be one that remains in the program for launch.
4. Severity 4 (Low): These bugs are really more like feature requests. They don’t stop the program from launching, but they should either be fixed at some point or put on the next version’s requirements document.  These bugs are also called WIN-WIN bugs, because they are potential improvements to the software that help the program get better (so the customer wins) and help the developers get more work (so they win).

Using this structure, a program cannot launch if there are open Severity 1s and 2s, may launch with Severity 3s, and will launch if only Severity 4s remain.  One exception to this is the reproducibility of the bug.  Non-reproducible bugs of any Severity may not hold up launch depending on their frequency and likeliness to occur.

We also discussed the Tradeoff Triangle, and how it lends itself to better customer/developer relations.

Lastly, TalkTIMEOC concluded with a discussion of GUIDs.  These are Geographically Unique IDendifiers that are used to make sure that your data records are always kept in order.

FreeTIMEOC brought in our first guest speaker, Eric Karich, from the Law Offices of Eric Karich. He taught us about applying for a provisional patent and how the process works.

Then IdeaTIMEOC got going with more ideas and more brainstorming.

Thanks again to everyone that attended and be sure to invite your friends and RSVP to the next meeting!