The Outcome
The project documentation was not the only
thing we automated. This project is a Java language project. Java includes a
documentation generator that builds beautiful linked Web-based documentation
directly from the Java source code. I think you can guess where I'm going here.
We periodically update our Java-class documentation directly from the CVS
archive, so when the code gets changed, the online documentation is brought up
to date in minutes.
Creating a project undernet had a number of
tangible benefits for us:
The developers, managers, analysts, and users
had almost real-time access to information about the project and its status.
The shared documentation repository allowed all
of us to be sure that we had up-to-date information and that there was no
miscommunication because people were working from old designs.
Having the documents up on a Web server meant we
could give anyone the ability to read the project documents without having to
give the ability to write or change them.
Having the class documentation constantly
updated from the code archive meant that developers were always working from
documentation that matched the real state of the code. This drastically reduced
the impact of changes on the development process.
Keeping the CVS archive on one of our master
servers allowed all of this documentation and code, scattered around various
development machines and workstations, to be backed up together. No single
machine failure could have more than a tiny impact on the project.
An undernet is an inexpensive way to improve
team performance.
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