25.10 > Describe five factors that engineers would take into account during the process of building a release of a large software system.
- Documentation - documentation is the most important factor that needs to be taken into account if a large software system is going to be released. Documentation needs to be readable, explain in detail how the software works together, and should be available for the parties that need to read it (maybe the public, maybe not sometimes?). Without clear documentation, it is hard to figure out any problems that may arise when the software is released. There should just always be documentation, plain and simple.
- Fixing previous version errors - a release of software could be the primary release (Version 1) or it could be a later release. Later releases need to ensure that they fix whatever problems, faults, or bugs the previous release version was troubled with.
- Dependencies need to be checked - if the dependencies for the new version have been updated or removed entirely, then it is important to be aware of that and make sure the new version runs smoothly.
- Hardware - likewise, if new, advanced hardware has come out since the last version, the new release of the software has to be compatible with this hardware and has to be built to run on it, otherwise possible users of the software will find it obsolete since it does not run on their fancy new hardware.
- Marketing - new releases must be marketed to the public and newer, better, and with more to them than that of the previous version. There needs to be a reason that the product should be bought instead of users just hanging on to their previous version. Marketing is a great way of convincing customers that it would suit them to buy the newer version instead of sticking with the out-of-date one. If no one is interested in buying the new software, then what was the point of making it?