Project Practices

Programming and editing

• Emacs is used for text editing, including HTML editing mostly using html-helper-mode.el.
• HTML pages are built according to a template.
• RCS is used for revision control whenever possible. Things such as objects cannot easily be kept under RCS.
• Every function and nontrivial algorithm is commented.

Reporting

• Hour reports are entered in the phase resource table.
• Error reports are done according to a template. Uncorrected errors are marked "open", fixed errors are moved to the "closed" cathegory. There are tools in the error report directory for creating and closing reports.
  A tool will be developed on the VLC that allows users to notify the wizards of errors found.
• Other in-system tools will also be developed as need arises. These are mostly tools that allow programmers to modify the VLC while it is running, but may also include tools for statistics etc.
• Project documentation will be kept on the World Wide Web. Basic customer documentation will also be supplied on paper.

Communication

• The primary means of communication is through the e-mail mailing list ohtmoo@niksula.cs.hut.fi.
• Informal project meetings will be held every monday after Ruth Vilmi's English class.
• A large part of the team meetings will be on the VLC itself.

Risk Management

Every week the project team will identify the top risk items of the project and apply appropriate risk reduction techniques to them.

When the project started, a few major risks were identified.

• The system is not easy enough to be useful
• The system is not finished in time
• The prototype system does not work properly during the fall

Responsibilities

The responsibilities are allocated according to the work plan. Every task is assigned to one or many members of the team. One person is responsible for the detailed planning and implementation of the task, the others are working for the task leader.

The project manager is responsible for assigning every task to one person. He instructs the person if necessary and aids him in resource planning.