The Atlas Data Management Software Engineering Process

Rucio is the next-generation data management system of the ATLAS experiment. The software engineering process to develop Rucio is fundamentally different to existing software development approaches in the ATLAS distributed computing community. Based on a conceptual design document, development takes place using peer-reviewed code in a test-driven environment. The main objectives are to ensure that every engineer understands the details of the full project, even components usually not touched by them, that the design and architecture are coherent, that temporary contributors can be productive without delay, that programming mistakes are prevented before being committed to the source code, and that the source is always in a fully functioning state. This contribution will illustrate the workflows and products used, and demonstrate the typical development cycle of a component from inception to deployment within this software engineering process. Next to the technological advantages, this contribution will also highlight the social aspects of an environment where every action is subject to detailed scrutiny.