Implementation Details - Wrapping up Our Software Product Creation

In this episode, we look at the final pieces we need to code as part of building our product. Many of these steps have already been taken partially, if not completely. However, it is always worthwhile to walk down a checklist of the details as we move towards code freeze.

What is Code Freeze?

The idea of freezing product development is one that provides a hard completion of the implementation phase. It is a way to avoid an endless cycle of enhancements and tweaks to "perfect" a product. Once implementation is frozen, the requirements and specification should all be included in the application. At that point, we theoretically have created what we set out to build. One would think that it is only important to have a code freeze in a large development group. That is not what I have seen in my experience. The closer we are to product creation, the more we want to pour features or bells and whistles into it. Thus, we will thank ourselves for drawing a well-defined finish line for implementation.

Pieces That Are Easily Overlooked

The entire process we have been following is intended to keep us from skipping over details. Nevertheless, there are some implementation details that seem to be skipped over on a regular basis. They are just not the details that developers experience in their use of the application as part of the implementation phase. This neglect typically comes from the developers testing features as an admin or other "power user" and features that are secondary to the solution like reporting. We explore these commonly overlooked items.

• Navigation options such as hide/show based on user or status
• Instant vs queued responses and status or progress displays
• Multiple "uses" of the application (multiple cycles of log out and then immediately login)
• Reports with empty records and useful controls for entering parameters

Your Challenge - Complete The Implementation Details

It is time to bring this thing home. You have been working on this product for weeks and it is time to get the last pieces implemented. We will not be ready to ship this off to customers. However, we will have a useful product as we finish these implementation details. Look at your requirements and make sure you can check off every item you started out to create. This is a big step but one that you will find very rewarding.