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9 Steps to Software Project Handovers
Passing on the baton isn’t a cakewalk. Here’s how to do it
Software projects need to be handed over all the time. New people join, others leave the company. When I did my first handover, I was pretty bad at it. I improved over time and just got an excellent introduction by Niklas Baumstark.
Let me share some ideas on how I think you can structure amazing handovers in nine steps. Let’s get started!
1. Plan Ahead
Handovers take time. You will forget to mention important things and the receiver will forget to ask important questions. The sooner you begin, the better. This leaves room to let the knowledge sink in — and come back to you if something is unclear.
2. Clean Up!
Before you hand it over, make sure the software is clean. Search for TODO notes. Either remove them or clarify them.
Remove dead code — you aren’t gonna need it (YAGNI principle).
In general, you should only install the software you actually use. Over time, you may have installed stuff that was needed once but isn’t needed any longer. Remove unused dependencies. It’s really hard for people who don’t know why they’re installed to remove them.
Also, update the dependencies you have. Preferably to a long-term support version (LTS version).
Make sure that the unit tests work and that you cover the important parts — or point out which parts are not covered and need to be treated with caution! Letting those tests run in a CI pipeline helps to make sure they are actually executed.
Docker helps to make sure that people can run the software.
And finally, commit everything to version control and push!
