Jezz Santos has announced a mini-series of articles that will discuss the packaging and building of Software Factories. The first article discusses how the various assets of a Software Factory, such as the DSL's and Guidance Automation Packages, can be combined into a single MSI installer.

Having looked over my current and past engagements recently, I have noticed that I have been working flat out for over three-and-a-half years. No breaks in-between assignments, and certainly no holidays - apart from the bank-holidays, but they don't count. I'm completing a short assignment with a financial client in the next few weeks, so I have decided to take a well earned break from work. It won't all be about relaxing though, as people who know me will tell you - I can't just sit around and do nothing. In the run up to the winter holidays I have decided to begin upgrading my current MCAD certification to the new MCPD Windows, Web and Enterprise Application Developer versions.
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I've touched upon Wikis before, but if you want an extremely comprehensive Wiki solution for FREE, then check out MindTouch. They have an open-source .NET Wiki product called Deki Wiki, which has a feature list that most of the commercial Wiki products would be proud of.

I found this useful article on MSDN regarding scenarios for integrating DSL's and Guidance Automation Packages:

Guidance Automation Toolkit and Domain-Specific Language Tools for Visual Studio 2005: Integration Scenarios

This will most likely come in handy later on.

I received my TechEd 2007 DVD's this morning. Their journey from the States took just over three days and ended with a delivery in a FedEx van. I haven't had much time to look over the contents of the disks yet (there are six of them), but I have watched the start of the Keynote presentation by Bob Muglia - just to make sure the disks work after their long journey. It opens "back-stage", at the end of the Keynote, with Bob covered in tomatoes and other assorted vegetables. The crowd is boo-ing, and he doesn't look too pleased. At that precise moment in time, Doc. Brown from Back to the Future in his trademark Delorien appears (courtesy of some pretty good special effects).
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Updated November 15, 2007

This post represents the first, in what I hope, will become a series based on my adventure in developing a Software Factory. I have been very keen on the concept of Model Driven Development ever since I first started reading up on UML 2.0, and kept encountering this other acronym - MDA. I was then fortunate enough to get involved in an MDA pilot project, securing some valuable experience and exposure with the concepts, and also convincing myself that this approach to software development was well worth looking into.

Shortly after, I came across Microsoft's Software Factory initiative (which is essentially a form of Software Product Line Engineering). I read, what is fast becoming, the seminal book on Software Factories, and have also pre-ordered the next book from Jack Greenfield which I'm hoping will be more concrete and less theoretical. I can rate the prior book very highly considering the number of times I have taken a highlighter pen to its paragraphs, and the number of Post It notes sticking out of its covers.

I think all Developers, Architects and Software Development Managers should keep a close eye on these methods. For me however, I think it's about time I started getting practical with Software Factories. I think the tools and technologies are mature enough to begin developing with - don't get me wrong, they still have a long way to go, but like the MDA pilot project - getting some experience and exposure with the concepts and tools can only be a good thing.

I came across this old post on Tad Anderson's Real World Software Architecture blog that provides a perspective on Guidance Automation and its potential impact on architecture. I think it shares the same sentiment that I had in one of my earlier posts, in that Guidance Automation allows Architects and Developers to capture and share knowledge explicitly rather than implicitly. The implementation of a Guidance Package takes knowledge and makes it a reusable intellectual asset that is directly executable. Furthermore, a Guidance Package can encapsulate the architectural decisions that have been made, and enforce their consistent implementation throughout the entire project.

Tad's post also talks about the cost of implementing Guidance Packages. They are after all, just pieces of software, and like other pieces of software, they need to go through a development lifecycle. That won't be cheap. Currently most Guidance Packages are bundled as part of a Software Factory, and Tad's post comments on their obvious suitability for software product lines. They will offer some value to developers working in the project space (especially when the GAT becomes more usable), however, the most value will be obtained when they're applied across the horizontal space - above all projects. To get there, organisations will need to focus more closely on frameworks and patterns.

I am ashamed of myself. I have been working in IT for just over a decade at all levels of software development. I have been fortunate enough to be working with Microsoft .NET since the early betas, and I pride myself on my C++ heritage. However, in all this time working as a Developer, I have never once attended an event related to my profession. I hear great things about the events that Microsoft put on or host: TechEd, DDD and the like, and I hear about the many user-groups that are dotted around the country. Not once have I made the effort to attend.

I rectified my shame last night by attending a meeting organised by a local .NET User Group (the .NET Developer Network in Bristol). I wasn't really sure what to expect, or how well it might be organised. At the very least, I thought, it would be somewhere where I could idle away some time after work, and get to see what I might be missing out on.

Driving home after the evening however, I have to say that I was really impressed. It was clear that the organiser (Guy Smith-Ferrier - you might have heard of him) has been doing this for quite a while. Richard Fennell (from Black Marble) provided most of the content for the evening by taking us through Team Foundation Server, TFS Power Toys, and giving some useful demos around most of the areas of TFS that Developers will encounter.

It certainly wasn't a waste of time, and I think that I'll make the effort to attend more meetings in the future - I'm already signed up for the October meeting. Who knows... maybe you'll see me walking around DDD6 next. Maybe I'll see you there!