NSCL DAQ iteration timeline

DAQ Software at the NSCL is developed in iterations. Iterations are planned so that they can be rolled out at each major shutdown. This means that iterations are about 3 months in duration. Each iteration follows the script below:

1. A meeting is held with the DAQ stakeholders currently defined to be the developers, and the local user group. This meeting establishes the set of work items the development group will attempt during the iteration and prioritizes them. This meeting delivers a prioritized list of work items.
2. The development group accomplishes work items. (See the articles describing Bug Fix workflow and Development workflow for more information).
3. Approximately halfway through the iteration, a meeting with the stakeholders is held . The current progress and momentum are reported on by the development group and an indication is given for which work items: - Have already been accomplished. - Will likely be accomplished in the remaining time. - Will not likely be accomplished in the remaining time. The deliverable from this meeting is a re-prioritized list of work items based on the reality of the iteration.
4. 4 weeks from the shutdown, feature freeze takes place. At this time, work will only be done on work items that are in alpha or later test. A meeting with the stakeholders is held that will describe the final feature list and user application code and build procedure changes that will be needed to port their software to the new iteration. The software development group will deliver to the user group documentation regarding the added features, as well as code port requirements.
5. 2 weeks from the shutdown code freeze takes place. At this time work will only be done on iteration code selection and package installers. A meeting is held with the stakeholders.
6. 1 or 2 weeks into the shutdown, the iteration is rolled out and the remainder of the shutdown is used to deal with rollout issues that were not discovered in the testing of the package installers.