Let you know software development in advance (43): software product upgrade process

Part 1 software R & D work summary

Software product upgrade process

 

After a software product is developed, it does not mean that it will never change. We need to upgrade the original software for the following reasons:

(1) The user puts forward new requirements for software functions, and the currently running software cannot meet the user's new requirements.

(2) bugs in the original software are fixed by upgrading the software.

(3) the original software program is optimized, and the new software can improve the execution efficiency of the program.

(4) self-developed new functions to improve user experience.

 

For communication software products, upgrading is a huge project, involving many people, including marketing personnel, developers, testers, and technical support personnel.

Generally, the upgrade process of communication software products is as follows:

Figure 1 upgrade process of communication software products

 

The following describes the steps in the upgrade process.

1. The project R & D Manager issues an update task

Based on one or more of the reasons mentioned above, the customer will require the software product to be upgraded. Relevant personnel at the site will inform the R & D manager of the customer's requirements and ask him to evaluate them.

After the evaluation is passed, the R & D manager will issue an update task book to the software development team so that they can schedule the preparation of the update package according to the content in the update task book.

The upgrade task includes the following content:

(1) The release time of the upgrade task and the time required to complete the upgrade.

(2) On-site equipment and current software version.

(3) The target version of the upgrade and the target version of the software to be upgraded.

(4) Schedule and participants of the upgrade.

 

2. The Development Engineer prepares the software upgrade package as required in the upgrade task book

After the upgrade task is issued, the Development Engineer must prepare the software upgrade package according to the content in the package.

The process for creating a software upgrade package is as follows:

Figure 2 process for creating a software upgrade package

 

Note the following when creating a software upgrade package:

(1) Before making the software, read the update task book in detail. In particular, find out what the on-site software version is? To which version?

(2) For some software, the deployment is complicated and involves many modules. To understand the on-site deployment, on-site personnel may need to return the software information, including the software version, configuration file, and database script. The more we know about the site, the less likely it will be to make the upgrade package.

(3) In the process of preparing the upgrade package, if you have any questions, you must ask the relevant personnel for advice. If you cannot leave it there, you will not be able to leave it there. Software upgrade is very important. A small problem may cause the upgrade to fail.

(4) After the upgrade package is created, the developer must perform the test first. After the test is complete, submit the test engineer for verification. The environment for software self-testing can be provided by test engineers.

(5) If database scripts are involved in the software upgrade package, the on-site personnel must import the data in the database used on site for verification to ensure the correctness of script processing. Many database scripts process user data. improper processing may result in loss or incorrect modification of user data.

During the preparation of the upgrade package, the development engineers should also prepare the upgrade guide to instruct on-site personnel to perform the upgrade operations according to the steps. This document is very important to ensure the rigor and correctness of the content. Generally, this document includes the following:

(1) Newly Added features in the new version or problems related to the old version should be solved.

(2) version number of the software before and after the upgrade.

(3) content contained in this upgrade package, such as programs, database scripts, and documents.

(4) preparations before the upgrade, such as backup files and data.

(5) detailed steps and precautions for software upgrade.

(6) handling steps after the upgrade fails.

(7) functions to be verified after the upgrade is successful.

 

3. The test engineer verifies the upgrade package in detail.

After the development engineer passed the test on the upgrade package, the test engineer appeared. They will strictly verify the upgrade package to ensure that the on-site upgrade can be completed once.

If a problem occurs during the verification process, they will promptly contact the production staff of the upgrade package and ask the production staff to modify the problem. Such a continuous loop process until the verification is correct.

 

4. The R & D Manager releases the software upgrade package after verification to the site.

After the upgrade package is verified, the R & D manager will release the package to the site and ask the on-site support staff to schedule the software upgrade with the customer.

After the software upgrade time is determined, the R & D manager will notify the relevant developers and testers to provide support to cope with emergencies during the upgrade process.

 

5. support on-site upgrade

During the software upgrade process, developers and testers need to ensure smooth communication, that is, the mobile phone needs to be started, the instant messaging tool needs to be opened, and the mailbox needs to be logged on. If problems occur during the upgrade, the on-site staff will promptly contact the developers and testers to help solve the problem. They will feed back information such as the scene and logs for analysis.

By the way, many software upgrades are scheduled to be executed late at night for fear of affecting users' normal use or time zone. This requires developers and testers to work hard, wait until the upgrade is successful. It is said that it is very hard to develop software. Where is the hard work? In these places.

 

The above five steps are a complete upgrade process. Different software products may be slightly different. In general, software upgrades are a system project, ensuring that each step is perfect.

 

With the continuous improvement of the original functions of the software and the emergence of new functions, it is inevitable to upgrade the software. The successful upgrade of the software is the common aspiration of the majority of software practitioners. Every successful software upgrade is the result of the cooperation of pre-sales, after-sales, development, and testing personnel. However, when you hear that new software features have been praised by the customer, everyone will feel very pleased and feel that there will always be a return.

 

 

 

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