Essay Outline

1. Application Overview

   Start with the application's name and sourceforge.net URL. Continue with a short summary of the application.

2. Application Functionality

   Describe what the application does. Include screen dumps here, if appropriate.

3. Development History

   Describe the history behind this application. How long is it being developed? Is it derived from another application?

4. Development Team

   Describe the application's development model and team. Is this a lone developer, or an organized team? How is the team organized? Who can participate? If the above are not document in the application's web pages, just say so.

5. Documentation Overview

   Describe the documentation that comes with the application. Does it contain a user manual, a reference manual, a FAQ list, technical information? Is on-line help available? Can you print it in a nice format? Is it available for browsing over the web?

6. Source Code Overview

   Try to unpack and browse the application's source code. Most likely, its size and complexity will ovewhelm you; this is expected. If, you notice something worth reporting, include it here.

7. Support Options

   If you have a problem with the application how can you obtain support? Is there a mailing list, a newsgroup, or an open forum for sending questions? Are these qustions answered promptly? Is there a company providing paid support?

8. Application Quality

   You may find some of the following criteria (derived from ISO/IEC 9126) useful for discussing the application's quality.

   • Functionality: Suitability, accuracy, interoperability, security, functionality compliance
   • Reliability: Maturity, fault tolerance, recoverability, reliability compliance
   • Usability: Understandability, learnability, operability, attractiveness, usability compliance
   • Efficiency: Time behavior, resource utilization, efficiency compliance
   • Maintainability: Analyzability, changeability, stability, testability, maintainability compliance
   • Portability: Adaptability, installability, replaceability, coexistence, portability compliance
9. Software License

   How is the application licensed? Does it affect the way you use it?

10. Critical Evaluation

    Evaluate the application in the context of your work and time constraints. Was installing and learning the application a waste of time, or did you benefit from it?

11. Appendix A: Detailed Logbook

    Log your work in a logbook. Adopt the following format, and submit it as an appendix. Be honest, this part will be graded for its completeness, but its actual contents will not affect your grade. Do not try to impress us with an entry indicating you worked on New Year's day.

    Date	Time	Action
    2004.12.23	13:14	Work session start
    2004.12.23	13:15	Browse sourceforge.net, looking for application
    2004.12.23	13:38	Start downloading Fingerprint manager
    2004.12.23	13:42	Install application
    2004.12.23	13:43	Installation failed
    2004.12.23	13:45	Work session start
    2004.12.23	13:46	Browse sourceforge.net, looking for another application
    2004.12.23	13:55	Work session end
    2004.12.26	20:03	Work session start
    2004.12.26	20:10	Download Mozilla
    2004.12.26	20:15	Install application
    2004.12.26	20:30	Send my first email message
    2004.12.26	20:30	Work session end

12. Appendix B: Questionnaire

    This part is also not used in the grade, but its completion is compulsorily.

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 Last change: Thursday, December 23, 2004 2:10 pm
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