Retrospective notes 2021.11.17 - ISISComputingGroup/ibex_developers_manual GitHub Wiki

Retrospective Notes 17/11/2021

Chair Timekeeper Note Taker
@ThomasLohnert @Adam-Szw @JackEAllen

Items from last retrospective

  • A Squish Spreadsheet has been made by @LilithCole to manage who has the license located in General on MS Teams.
  • IOC tests are better but still a bit flaky. Some fail on some servers but not others but down to only 2 from 4 failing.
  • There are now instructions on the wiki for how to restart the license server if someone has taken the license.
  • Friday Tech Dept: ACTION: @KathrynBaker will think about ways to make it more fun

Items from current retrospective

Workflow

Next Sprint will include a FRIDAY

Try and get everyone in if possible - more fun when people are in the office + food!

Timekeeper also moderates voting room

It was agreed that the timekeeper should act as the moderator for voting rooms to enforce voting does not overrun time allocated for an issue.

Move some documentation into repos as to wiki?

  • URL's should be added to repositories and WIKI to include links to relevant repositories and recourses.
  • Repositories should include URLS to all relevant information such as WIKI pages, manual locations (where applicable), Server locations and other associated repositories (for example an IOC repo should include URL's to emulator and OPI).
  • @ThomasLohnert will make an issue for this which includes script generator automatic documentation.
  • @JackEAllen will also make issues to tackle adding of URLS to some repositories as Friday tickets in the next Sprint.
  • A suggestion mentioned was to try and ensure that URLS are present for each repository as part of PR acceptance criteria.

Large backlog of reviews this sprint a sign of insufficient training or other barriers?

  • It was highlighted that reviews are not easy if information reviewers need to review a PR is not provided. To improve on this, It was suggested that PR's should include verbose instructions for testing including:
    • Machine locations
    • Relevant documentation needed (manuals, wiki pages)
    • Tasks involved to test PR are listed in the order that they should be tested.
  • A suggestion agreed upon was to modify issue templates to include the header "How to Test" to be completed when the developer is ready to submit work for review to list testing instructions.
  • @JackEAllen will update issue template to action this.

Implement repository linters to remove code format and styling from review process.

  • During discussions about barriers for reviewing PR's, it was suggested that we could add linters as git actions to remove the need to review code format and styling from the review process to allow developers to focus on the logic and speed up the review process.
  • It was agreed that this would be nice for some repositories - mainly Python
  • It is known that Mantid host technical training within ISIS Computing Division, which can extend to Experimental Controls and others performing computing roles within ISIS. @JackEAllen will contact Mantid to follow up on this to see if we can attend a joint training sessions on Jenkins to provide all members within IBEX the knowledge to create git actions with Jenkins to action the implementation of Linting and other tools to handle code styling and format.

Use Squish only for reviews during last week of sprint

Mutual agreement that during the final week of a sprint, the squish license should be used primarily for reviews only. The priority of squish license usage during the final week of a sprint can be prioritised as:

  • High: Reviews
  • Medium: Reworks
  • Low: New work

Equipment

The office mic is barely legible for stand-up, is there a better solution we could use?

  • @rerpha will contact @KathrynBaker / @FreddieAkeroyd to discuss solutions to resolve this. Options discussed included:
    • Mic mounted to the ceiling
    • Mic that everyone can hand around the office (Not the most Covid secure option)
    • Order a VC system if cost effective so we can hear and see everyone in the office.

Other

Would everyone be interested in organising a secret Santa this year to get us in the festive mood?

Everyone is interested in a secret Santa and festive meal in the new year.