CMPS 262: Advanced Programming

Introduction

Software is as much a social endeavor as a technical one for all but the smallest software projects. It is important to streamline the interaction with other developers to make sure the quality of the software is as high as possible. We have already seen Git and GitHub as a tool for collaboration, and we will look at it again because you will have to work on a group project. In addition, we will use Slack as team collaboration tool. Slack is used by many software developers and has integrations with a lot of other software. For example, it is possible to create a channel where commits to GitHub are automatically displayed.

Slack can be used for free and works in the browser and has clients for the desktop and mobile devices. It has an elaborate notification system such that you get informed if something important happens. Git, GitHub, and Slack work well together and are used in combination by many developers.

Module Objectives

• Install the Slack team collaboration software
• Use Slack to coordinate team activities
• Use Git to create your own branch
• Use GitHub pull requests to merge changes in your own branch into the master branch

Learning Resources

• Study the getting started guide for new Slack users
• Set up a Slack team for collaboration
• Read about pull requests

Learning Activities

• Readings
• Discussion Board
• Programming Project

For Further Study

• Read more about Slack on Wikipedia