SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

• US 20080320436A1
• Filed: 06/10/2008
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TopCoder, Inc. (Wipro Limited)
• Original Assignee: TopCoder, Inc. (Wipro Limited)
• Inventors: Hughes, John M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,612,926 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for developing software. In one embodiment, a method for facilitating the distributed development of software components includes providing a skill rating for software developers, communicating specifications for a software component to a subset of the developers, receiving submissions from the developers, scoring the submissions, and selecting one submission to be included in a software repository. In another embodiment, a method for compensating a software developer includes soliciting software developers for the submission of computer software components, receiving software components in response to the solicitation from the developers, evaluating the received software components, selecting one or more of the submissions for potential distribution to the public, and allotting the proceeds from the distribution to the developers.

Claims

1-41. -41. (canceled)

42. A method for competitive development, comprising:

providing a specification for a development to be developed by competition;

receiving submissions developed in response to the specification;

selecting one of the submissions as a winning submission in response to a review of a number of the submissions by a review board using a scorecard; and

displaying to developers submissions submitted by other developers and scorecards produced by the review board in response to such submissions, thereby enabling the developers to learn from the results of prior competitions.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the specification comprises a specification for a software design.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the specification comprises a software design.

45. A system for competitive development, comprising:

a server for providing a specification for a development to be developed by competition;

a receiving module configured to receive submissions developed in response to the specification;

a scoring module configured to select one of the submissions as a winning submission in response to a review of a number of the submissions by a review board using a scorecard; and

a reviewing module configured to facilitate developers review of submissions submitted by other developers and scorecards produced by the review board in response to such submissions, thereby enabling the developers to learn from the results of prior competitions.

46. A system for computer software development, comprising:

a requirements design subsystem for viewing and commenting on requirement specifications to identify requirements for software to be developed; and

a competition development subsystem for developing software by conducting a first competition for creation of a design for software using the requirements generated with the requirements design subsystem and for conducting a second competition for the development of software implementing the design submission that is the winner of the first competition.

47. The system of claim 46, further comprising a software catalog comprising a repository for storing software developed by conducting the competitions using the competition development subsystem and for providing a directory of information about the software in the repository.

48. The system of claim 46, further comprising a quality assurance subsystem for enabling the testing of software stored in the catalog.

49. The system of claim 46, further comprising a component incubator module for communicating suggestions for modifications to software.

50. The system of claim 46, further comprising an online showroom to display the software.

51. The system of claim 46, wherein the software comprises a software component that is a functional software module that may be a reusable building block of an application.

52. The system of claim 46, wherein the software comprises a portion of a software application.

53. The system of claim 46, wherein the competitions are conducted such that reviewers are not provided the identity of the submitters when they review submissions.

54. A method for computer software development and storage, comprising:

facilitating the viewing of and commenting on requirement specifications by developers using a requirements design subsystem thereby identifying requirements for new or improved software to be developed;

conducting a design competition using requirements generated with the requirements design subsystem;

conducting a development competition for development of software implementing the design that is the winning submission of the design competition; and

storing in a repository the software that is the winning submission in the development competition.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the component repository further comprises a software catalog comprising a repository for storing software developed by conducting the competitions using the competition development subsystem and for providing a directory of information about the software in the repository.

56. The method of claim 54, further comprising automatically testing software stored in the repository.

57. The method of claim 54, further comprising facilitating suggestions by the distributed community of developers for modifications to the software in the repository.

58. The method of claim 54, wherein the repository further comprises an online showroom to display the software.

59. The method of claim 54, wherein the software comprises a software component that is a functional software module that may be a reusable building block of an application.

60. The method of claim 54, wherein the software comprises a portion of a software application.

61. The method of claim 54, wherein the competitions are conducted such that reviewers are not provided the identity of submitters when they review submissions.