Best practice organizing Developmnt vs Documentatn

[Tom Theimer]

I have used EA to manage a SaaS site for several years but my knowledge has been "learn as I go".  I use EA to for planning changes & new development.  I also find it invaluable for documenting my systems.  But I find myself struggling with how to organize this ever-growing library of documents.

More specifically, is there a recommended practice such as organizing around subsystems with new development near current state documentation for the same subsystem.  Or have separate dev. and doc. folders?

Any suggestions or recommended reading/resources are appreciated.

[Helmut Ortmann]

Hi Tom,

it's difficult for me to give advice on something I don't really know.

Organizing things or describing complex systems is something like making a good filing. You get a new item and you now where to put it. If you don't know where to put this item you have to restructure you filing. Another metaphor is that you go 6 weeks on holiday and after that time you still understand your filing and you and other people are able to find things.

In the area of modeling there are two main structures to organize things:

• Organize things due to the process

     - Requirements, Architecture, Detailed design, etc.

• Organize things in a hierarchical structure

    e.g.: System, Subsystem, Component, Subcomponent, Module,..
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To find the best fit for you you have to write down your goals to modeling. You have to understand what you want to get from your models. You have an understanding of the structure of your problems.

Then it should be easy to find a first organizing. Usually it takes some time to stabilize it. Be aware: It's a never ending story.

Helmut