Archive: Projects 2011 | Projects 2012 | Projects 2013

The association runs projects to get hands on experience in the defined scope of education. These projects must have a defined scope and discussion beforehand. They should produce in a) a result that is usable in practice and b) an experience report or case study.

In 2012, the following projects were carried out. Projects typically include content from several study modules. They are listed below with their main module.

• Module Project Management
  • Release Management Version 1.0
  • Präsentation von Freier Software Projekte
• Module Software Design
  • Editor für das mathematisches Konzept der Zustands-Transitions-Systeme
  • Migration auf aktuelle Passwort-Hashverfahren (BCrypt)
• Module Game Design
  • Tageslichtzyklen und Blendeffekte auf Grafiken
  • Licht-Effekte in 2D-Grafiken
• Module Programming
  • Selbstverwaltung von E-Mail-Adressen mit Verifikation
  • Performance-Analyse und Verbesserung in Java-Programmen
  • Unterstützung für SOCKS-Proxies in Java-Klienten
• Module System Operation
  • Save the Wiki from Extinction
  • Support for IPv6 (Part 2)

We will go into details on selected projects:

Module: Project management

Project management in Open Source projects faces a number of challenges and differences from project management within companies that produce commercial software.

Project: Promotion of an opensource project

Through effective marketing, Open Source projects can reach a wider audience of new users and reinforce loyalty with an existing user base. In this project, we propose a simple marketing strategy and explore the best ways to implement it.

Effective marketing starts with understanding the target market. Next, comes understanding the product - in this case, an open source game. In particular, it is important to identify what makes the product different or better from any other offerings. There will be one differentatior which is stronger than all the rest - a 'Big Idea' or 'unique selling point'. This should be used to create a clear, concise message to the target market.

The idea is to make it very clear to consumers (e.g. gamers) what the project (game) is and why they should use (play) it.

Next, comes the actual marketing. The message that has been defined, needs to be communicated to a wider audience. For this part of the project we look at website requirements and basic SEO. Direct marketing includes email lists, social media, and word of mouth. Social media, opportunities provided by hosting platforms, and directory listings, are also explored.

Details and a specific case study are documented at Marketing_of_an_open_source_game. This project also inspired and informed the SourceForge blog article Yes, but what does it *do*?

Module: Software Design

Software engineering projects aim to provide an understanding of requirements and design for concepts to meet them. The provide the ground on which programming projects build up on.

Projekt: Editor für das mathematisches Konzept der Zustands-Transitions-Systeme

In der Informatik spielt das Konzept der Zustands-Transitions-Systeme und ihre begrenzte Form, die Endlichen Automaten, eine wichtige Rolle.

Mathematisch gesprochen ist ein Endlicher Automat definiert als
(I, O, S, s₀, t: S x I-> S, o: S x I -> O, F), wobei:

I eine Menge von Eingabe-Zeichen,
O eine Menge von Ausgabe-Zeichen,
S eine Menge von Zuständen,
_s0ein Startzustand aus S,
t eine Zustandsübergangsfunktion: t: S x I-> S,
o eine Ausgabefunktion: o: S x I -> O,
F eine Menge von Endzuständen als Teilmenge von S ist

Aber diese Darstellung wirkt auf den ersten Blick so kompliziert, dass sie abschreckt. In diesem Projekt haben wir daher einen Editor für endlichen Automaten programmiert, der das Kennenlernen dieses Konzept ermöglicht, ohne dass man gleich tief in die Mathematik einsteigen muss. Das Bild zeigt einen Ausschnitt des Modells eines Geldautomaten.

Module: Game Design

Game Design is closely related to Software engineering. It, however, focuses on the concepts behind games instead of software in general.

Project: Building a sustainable game community

Once a multiplayer game community has grown beyond a handful of players, it starts to require management.
A typical way to handle this is a support team. In the context of an open source game this is likely to be volunteers.

In this project we explore the most effective way to manage the community while minimising the amount of real time, external, support required.
Using experience gained while managing a multiplayer, RPG, we analyse the types of issues raised, and suggest the best approach for each type of issue.

Issues which a player may like or need to raise include

- questions about the game world (e.g. where can I find X?)
- technical problems (on the user side)
- technical problems (on the game side)
- account problems (e.g. forgotten password)
- social problems
- suggestions for improvement
- questions about how to contribute to the game

TODO: fill in the handling options for each issue
TODO: fill in details on management of a peer directed group of in-game helpers and an external support team

Module: Programming

The programming projects are about implementing concepts developed in the software engineering or game design modules. Programming projects should produce documentation and how-to articles in addition to the writen computer code.

Project: TODO

Module: System Operation

If operating a software system 24 hours a day and 7 days a week is required, know how in system-maintanence and organizing support will be required. For obvious reasons this is not a realistic goal for a small association. But we are trying to get close to this objective.

Projekt: Unterstützung IPv6

IPv6 ist die nächste Version des Internet Protokolls. Es zeichnet sich neben einer Reihe von kleineren Neuerungen vor allem durch einen deutlich größeren Adresspool aus. Anfang 2011 wurden die letzten Adressblöcke des aktuellen Protokolls von der obersten Internetverwaltung ICANN an die regionalen Verwaltungen vergeben.

Im Rahmen dieses Projekts haben wir 2011 den Server des Vereins experimentell an das IPv6-Internet angeschlossen. Dabei wird ein "Dual Stack"-Modus verwendet, so dass der Server seine alte IP-Adresse behält. Er ist somit über beide Protokoll-Versionen erreichbar.

In 2012 wurde die experimentelle Anbindung in den Echtbetrieb übernommen, wobei es durch die gute Vorbereitung und die ausführliche Testphase zu keinerlei Problemen gekommen ist.