Skip to content

pd-engineering-cop.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
51 lines (34 loc) · 3.93 KB

pd-engineering-cop.md

File metadata and controls

51 lines (34 loc) · 3.93 KB

Engineering CoP (Community of Practice)

This is part of a broader quality framework and is one of a set of communities of practice.

There is some overlap with the Test Automation Working Group.

Subject

All aspects of software engineering in NHS Digital Product Development.

Sponsor

Andy Blundell (andyblundell)

Goals

  • Identify good practices and patterns (as well as those to avoid), and make these easily accessible for all engineers.
    • This includes maintaining the principles, patterns and practices in this repository.
    • This may also include arranging talks or show and tell sessions provided either internally or by guest speakers.
  • Provide clear guidance for engineers on which tools and technologies are (and are not) recommended, including:
    • Playing an active role in maintaining the internal technology radar.
    • Being aware of and assessing new and emerging technologies.
  • Help individuals and teams find solutions to the specific engineering challenges they face.
  • Maintain references to learning resources relevant to each part of the Software Engineering Quality Framework

Goals to be reviewed December 2020

Scope

Initially this CoP will cast a very wide net and cover front-end, back-end and platform/infrastructure engineering and all technical aspects of delivery and operation of reliable services. This will include topics like pair programming, effective code reviews, team quality processes, architecting and engineering for functional and non-functional requirements and validating they are met, e.g. performance and capacity, security, accessibility. Some aspects of this will be covered in more detail by the Test Automation Working Group, while others are expected to spin out into their own CoPs over time in response to demand to provide more focus around specific sub-topics (e.g. mobile engineering, operational excellence, front-end development).

Coordinator

  • This will be a rotating post on a 3-month basis, requiring a commitment of one day per week.
  • Ivor Caldwell (ivorc) will be coordinator initially.
  • TBC will be deputy coordinator (to cover sessions when the coordinator is away, etc) who will typically take over as coordinator for the following 3 months.

Members

  • The CoP will have a core group who work together to deliver the CoP goals for the wider engineering community.
  • Core members will be ambassadors for the CoP, the Software Engineering Quality Framework and the Tech Radar.
  • Members will be expected to attend and contribute at the regular core group meetings.
  • Occasional time commitment outside these meetings will also be necessary, e.g. to prepare a presentation or hack event or to help others to do so.

Format

  • The group will have an open backlog (location TBC). The Sponsor and Coordinator will manage the backlog.
  • The group will meet every month to discuss issues, demonstrate solutions, and agree who will work on new tickets.
  • To keep these meetings manageable and useful, the aim is to have one representative from each area (this could be a single person, or a rotating role). The aim is for between 10 to 20 people to attend each session.
  • The group will also organise and facilitate other meetings, such as training workshops, hack-days, etc, which will be open to a much wider audience. These are expected to cover a representative spread across engineering disciplines, and as such each will likely appeal to a different subset of the wider community.
  • The group will maintain an open discussion channel (location TBC) where the wider community can seek and share advice and guidance, and a restricted channel for the core group to collaborate together. There may be additional channels for sub-topics (e.g. mobile, front-end dev, aws).