Development Methodology

This section describes the organization of the development work for Scalata.

Approach and Workflow

The project follows an Agile-inspired workflow, based on short, focused iterations similar to Scrum sprints. Development is structured into four sprints, each lasting approximately 15 hours, enabling frequent progress reviews and incremental improvements.

A Kanban board—created in an Excel spreadsheet—visually tracks progress. It is used to:

Prioritize and manage short-term tasks
Plan upcoming features
Monitor progress effectively

Sprint Activities

Each sprint includes the following activities:

Sprint Planning
At the beginning of each sprint, tasks to be implemented are identified and broken down into smaller, more manageable units. These tasks are then estimated in terms of complexity and outlined in detail.
Daily Check-Ins
Although not formalized as daily Scrum meetings, short daily reviews ensure that progress remains on track and any obstacles are addressed promptly.
Sprint Review
At the end of the sprint, the implemented features are evaluated to ensure they align with the project’s goals.
Sprint Retrospective
The overall development process is assessed to identify improvements for the next sprint.

👉 View each sprint kanban board and full backlog here

Test-Driven Development (TDD)

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is applied wherever possible to integrate testing early in the process and to minimize maintenance costs and risk.

Tools used for TDD:

ScalaTest for writing unit tests in Scala
SCoverage for measuring test coverage

Given that testing is focused on the model, the FlatSpec testing style is used for its balance between simplicity and a more user-oriented, declarative approach.

Quality Assurance

To maintain a high-quality codebase, the following tools are utilized:

Scala Formatter for enforcing code style in Scala

Continuous Integration

A GitHub Actions workflow runs automated tests across multiple operating systems whenever updates are pushed to the dev and master branch. This ensures that the code remains consistent and functional throughout the development process.

Continuous Delivery

Another workflow automates the release process to GitHub Releases and create a CHANGELOG every time a new version is pushed to the master branch.

Versioning

The project follows Semantic Versioning:

Major for incompatible API changes
Minor for backward-compatible feature additions
Patch for backward-compatible bug