Documentation, documentation, documentation
As we begin wrapping up the first phase of INDI, we put increased emphasis on documenting the application as it exists. While we had hoped to complete our documentation in time for the release of this phase of the project, documentation has also provided us with a chance to step back and orient our new programmer on the development of the system.
This work has included both user and technical documentation, including user guides, walkthroughs, internal help content, and design documentation. However, the most useful part of this effort has been the development of a revised software requirements specification. Our previous version of a requirements document, while adequate at the time, had been surpassed to such a point that it no longer provided a guide for development. At some points, INDI’s programming has been very organic, and under-documented features were added to the application. Returning to documentation has provided us a chance to recapture and redirect the course of development.
While we hope that this process will not significantly delay the release of phase 1, we believe the project overall will be improved due to this work.