CPSC 451 was such a unique experience that it would seem impossible that nothing of interest was learned. It is a good thing, therefore, that something was learned and was of sufficient interest to be written about here. First and foremost of these things that were learned is creative writing, ie. the ability to write for the purpose quantity, as well as quality. Other things of interest include learning to manage time better, understanding the basic structure of the design process, how to work with non-experienced customers (while still remaining sane), and a new method for estimating page length. It is likely that these things that we have learned will remain with us for a good portion of our careers.

The most fundamentally important concept that was learned was that of the stucture used in the software engineering process. When the supplier groups went about designing and finally implementing a system, it was done in clearly defined steps. From the initial specifications to the detailed design document, what was expected and what format was to appear was explicitly specified. Each individual document required specific sections, each of which was described in the 451 class or in the specifications. This can obviously be applied to real-life situations and it gives us and understanding about what is to be expected in the real world. This project also allowed us to practice writing these documents in there proper order and format, and the feedback given assisted us in understanding how to improve it for future projects.

No matter where we are or what we as people do with our lives, it is likely that we will have to deal with people. In the process of working on the 451 project everyone was forced to work both as customers and with customers. By working with customers we learned about the necessity of organization and about including the customers in the design process. Often it was necessary to talk directly with the customers in order to clarify what was being asked by them, but even so, there still ended up being a lot of interpretation. The responses received from the customer group on each of the major documents tended to be about the whole feel of the system as opposed to any specific points about what was being developed. It appeared that often the customer group members did not want to meticulously go through each document checking to see if each aspect of the original specifications was covered. In fact, we noticed a couple of things that the customer group origninally wanted implemented, but we did not included in any of the supplier documents, but nothing was commented on by the customer. I am sure that these things would have been caught if a customer member was included every step of the way. For the future, we realize the necessity to incorporate the customers in with the design process which will reduce the amount of time wasted in both the interpretation phase and with modifications.

Often, it was difficult to get large documents written in time and with appropriate length. Because of this problem, it was necessary to do some creative writing in order to achieve these goals. There are numerous aspects to this process: extensive detail, elaboration, and related ideas. The extensive detail method dealt with covering every possible point in every possible manner when writing a document. Even those points that might be considered unnecessary would be included due to the possibility that that one point might clarify a problem that the reader might have while reading the document. The elaboration method dealt with explaining specific points in different ways in order to reduce misunderstanding. This method would include discussing a topic with different points of view, using analogies, and making numerous referrals to other sections of the document that might be similar in some way. The elaboration method might appear similar to the extensive detail method, but there is a significant difference: the extensive detail method deals more with covering as many separate details about a topic as possible, while the elaboration method takes a single detail and discusses it at length under a variety of forms. Finally, the related ideas method incorporates related topics and combines them with the current topic. This method is related the the elaboration method in that its purpose is to alleviate misunderstanding, but this method ties separate ideas together, as opposed to simply rewritting the current ones. This method is only valid, however, if the ideas that will be correlated are actually related to each other; it is not good enough to simply refer incoherent ideas to each other and hope that the reader will be able to sort it out. It is also the case that more than one of these methods can be utilized in the same document.

Perhaps the most practical concept learned while working on the 451 project was the ability to estimate page length. Since it was impossible to agree apon a specific length, each of us had to use our intuitive abilities in order to obtain appropriate document lengths. The approach that appeared to be used most often was the one that had an individual write about the topic until there seemed that there was nothing else to write, at that would fill the ten pages, or whatever length was necessary. It was not the case that this would invariably produce documents that were too short, in fact, there was more than one instance that it produced the exact opposite. Another method, somewhat related to the previous one, would be the work-until-the-deadline method. This method requires the writer to have a specific, and impending, deadline for which to work towards. The writer would then write up the the last possible moment, and then send the document. Whatever length that the individual acheived would thus fit the appropriate length.

As a final consideration, the writer of this section will speak of something he has personally learned due to the fact that he cannot say that this concept was learned by any of the other group members, and that is about starting early. I have found that leaving things until later in order to go home early is not always best in the long run. Other classes might impose some new requirement that might iclude spending more time dealing with that class than originally planned. Also, any assignment might take longer than originally estimated which would then require the usage of the work-until-the-deadline method of writing in order to get all of one's section completed. Even though this gets the job done, the stress involoved was detrimental to one's attitude, and perhaps the health as well. I will attempt to bring this newfound understanding with me for future undertakings.