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60
61  <h1>Boost Formal Review Process</h1>
62  <div class="admonition-note admonition">
63    <p class="first admonition-title">Before Requesting a Formal Review</p>
64    <p class="last"><b>Read and follow the Boost <a href=
65    "submission_process.htm">submission process</a>.</b>&nbsp; There are at
66    least four steps a library author must take before a formal review is
67    requested.</p>
68  </div>
69
70  <p><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a><br>
71  <a href="#Comments">What to include in Review Comments</a><br>
72  <a href="#Results">Results</a><br>
73  <a href="#Review_Manager">Notes for Review Managers</a><br>
74  <a href="#Submitters">Notes for Library Submitters</a><br>
75  <a href="#Wizard">Review Wizard</a><br>
76  <a href="#Fast-Track">Fast Track Reviews</a></p>
77
78  <h2><a name="Introduction" id="Introduction">Introduction</a></h2>
79
80  <p>Proposed libraries are accepted into Boost only after undergoing a
81  formal review, where Boost mailing list members comment on their evaluation
82  of the library.</p>
83
84  <p>The final "accept" or "reject" decision is made by the <a href=
85  "#Review_Manager">Review Manager</a>, based on the review comments received
86  from boost mailing list members.</p>
87
88  <p>Boost mailing list members are encouraged to submit Formal Review
89  comments:</p>
90
91  <blockquote>
92    <ul>
93      <li>Publicly on the mailing list.</li>
94
95      <li>Privately to the Review Manager.</li>
96    </ul>
97  </blockquote>
98
99  <p>Private comments to a library submitter may be helpful to her or him,
100  but won't help the Review Manager reach a decision, so the other forms are
101  preferred.</p>
102
103  <h2>What to include in Review <a name="Comments" id=
104  "Comments">Comments</a></h2>
105
106  <p>Your comments may be brief or lengthy, but basically the Review Manager
107  needs your evaluation of the library.&nbsp; If you identify problems along
108  the way, please note if they are minor, serious, or showstoppers.</p>
109
110  <p>Here are some questions you might want to answer in your review:</p>
111
112  <ul>
113    <li>What is your evaluation of the design?<br></li>
114
115    <li>What is your evaluation of the implementation?<br></li>
116
117    <li>What is your evaluation of the documentation?<br></li>
118
119    <li>What is your evaluation of the potential usefulness of the
120    library?<br></li>
121
122    <li>Did you try to use the library?&nbsp; With what compiler?&nbsp; Did
123    you have any problems?<br></li>
124
125    <li>How much effort did you put into your evaluation? A glance? A quick
126    reading? In-depth study?<br></li>
127
128    <li>Are you knowledgeable about the problem domain?</li>
129  </ul>
130
131  <p>And finally, every review should answer this question:<br></p>
132
133  <ul>
134    <li>Do you think the library should be accepted as a Boost library?&nbsp;
135    Be sure to say this explicitly so that your other comments don't obscure
136    your overall opinion.</li>
137  </ul>
138
139  <h2><a name="Results" id="Results">Results</a></h2>
140
141  <p>At the conclusion of the comment period, the Review Manager will post a
142  message to the mailing list saying if the library has been accepted or
143  rejected.&nbsp; A rationale is also helpful, but its extent is up to the
144  Review Manager. If there are suggestions, or conditions that must be met
145  before final inclusion, they should be stated.</p>
146
147  <h2>Notes for <a name="Review_Manager" id="Review_Manager">Review
148  Manager</a>s</h2>
149
150  <p>Before a library can be scheduled for formal review, an active boost
151  member not connected with the library submission must volunteer to be the
152  "Review Manager" for the library.</p>
153
154  <p>The Review Manager:</p>
155
156  <ul>
157    <li>Checks the submission to make sure it really is complete enough to
158    warrant formal review.&nbsp; See the <a href="lib_guide.htm">Boost
159    Library Requirements and Guidelines</a>.&nbsp; If necessary, work with
160    the submitter to verify the code compiles and runs correctly on several
161    compilers and platforms.</li>
162
163    <li>Finalizes the schedule with the <a href="#Wizard">Review Wizard</a>
164    and the submitter .</li>
165
166    <li>Posts a notice of the review schedule on the regular <b><a href=
167    "mailto:boost@lists.boost.org">boost</a></b> mailing list, the
168      <b><a href="mailto:boost-users@lists.boost.org">boost-users</a></b>
169      mailing list, and the <b><a href=
170      "mailto:boost-announce@lists.boost.org">boost-announce</a></b> mailing
171      list.
172
173      <ul>
174        <li>The notice should include a brief description of the library and
175        what it does, to let readers know if the library is one they are
176        interested in reviewing.</li>
177
178        <li>If the library is known to fail with certain compilers, please
179        mention them in the review notice so reviewers with those compilers
180        won't waste time diagnosing known problems.</li>
181      </ul>
182    </li>
183
184    <li>Inspects the Boost <a href="../libs/libraries.htm">library
185    catalogue</a> for libraries which may interact with the new submission.
186    These potential interactions should be pointed out in the review
187    announcement, and the author(s) of these libraries should be privately
188    notified and urged to participate in the review.</li>
189
190    <li>Urges people to do reviews if they aren't forthcoming.</li>
191
192    <li>Follows review discussions regarding the library, moderating or
193    answering questions as needed.</li>
194
195    <li>Asks the <a href="#Wizard">review wizard</a> for permission to extend
196    the review schedule if it appears that too few reviews will be submitted
197    during the review period.</li>
198
199    <li>Decides if there is consensus to accept the library, and if there are
200    any conditions attached.</li>
201
202    <li>Posts a notice of the <a href="#Results">review results</a> on the
203    regular <b><a href="mailto:boost@lists.boost.org">boost</a></b> mailing
204    list, the <b><a href=
205    "mailto:boost-users@lists.boost.org">boost-users</a></b> mailing list,
206    and the <b><a href=
207    "mailto:boost-announce@lists.boost.org">boost-announce</a></b> mailing
208    list.</li>
209  </ul>
210
211  <p>In other words, it is the Review Manager's responsibility to make sure
212  the review process works smoothly.</p>
213
214  <h2>Notes for Library <a name="Submitters" id=
215  "Submitters">Submitters</a></h2>
216
217  <p>See <a href="submission_process.htm">Submission Process</a> for a
218  description of the steps a library developer goes through to get a library
219  accepted by Boost.</p>
220
221  <p>A proposed library should remain stable during the review period; it
222  will just confuse and irritate reviewers if there are numerous
223  changes.&nbsp; It is, however, useful to upload fixes for serious bugs
224  right away, particularly those which prevent reviewers from fully
225  evaluating the library.&nbsp; Post a notice of such fixes on the mailing
226  list.</p>
227
228  <p>Library improvements suggested by reviewers should normally be held
229  until after the completion of review period.&nbsp; If the suggested changes
230  might affect reviewer's judgments,&nbsp;post a notice of the pending change
231  on the mailing list.</p>
232
233  <h2>Review <a name="Wizard" id="Wizard">Wizard</a></h2>
234
235  <p>The Review Wizard coordinates the formal review schedule:</p>
236
237  <ul>
238    <li>Maintains a list of review manager volunteers, in the form of a
239    queue, so that volunteers who least recently managed reviews become the
240    prime candidates for upcoming reviews.</li>
241
242    <li>When a formal review is requested for a library:</li>
243
244    <li style="list-style: none">&nbsp;
245
246      <ul>
247        <li>Assign a review manager and suggests a schedule, after checking
248        (via private email) availability of the volunteers at the top of
249        review manager queue.</li>
250
251        <li>Finalize the schedule, once the review manager verifies the
252        library is actually ready for review.</li>
253
254        <li>Resolve schedule slips or other issues with review managers and
255        submitters.</li>
256      </ul>
257    </li>
258
259    <li>Maintains a schedule of both past and pending reviews, in the form of
260    the <a href="formal_review_schedule.html">Review Schedule</a> web
261    page.</li>
262
263    <li>Resolves questions from review managers and library submitters, who
264    sometimes want a third opinion on questions such as "Should we extend the
265    review period because ...?"</li>
266
267    <li>Monitors the general review process, and makes minor adjustments as
268    needed, or queries the list about possible major adjustments.</li>
269  </ul>The role of Boost Review Wizard is currently played by <a href=
270  "mailto:reportbase@yahoo.com">Tom Brinkman</a> and Ronald Garcia (garcia at
271  cs dot indiana dot edu).
272
273  <h2><a name="Fast-Track" id="Fast-Track">Fast Track Reviews</a></h2>
274
275  <p>To qualify for fast track review:</p>
276
277  <ul>
278    <li>The component must be small.</li>
279
280    <li>The technique must be already in use in Boost libraries and the new
281    component provides a common implementation.</li>
282
283    <li>A full Boost-conformant implementation is available in the
284    sandbox.</li>
285
286    <li>The Review Wizard determines that the proposal qualifies for fast
287    track review.</li>
288  </ul>
289
290  <p>Procedure:</p>
291
292  <ul>
293    <li>The Boost Review Wizard posts a review announcement to the main Boost
294    developer's list. The review period will normally last for 5 days. No two
295    fast track reviews will run in parallel. Fast track reviews may run
296    during full reviews, though generally this is to be avoided.</li>
297
298    <li>After the review period ends, the submitter will post a review
299    summary containing proposed changes to the reviewed implementation.</li>
300
301    <li>The Review Wizard will accept or reject the proposed library and
302    proposed changes.</li>
303
304    <li>After applying the proposed changes, the component is checked into
305    CVS like any other library.<br>
306    &nbsp;</li>
307  </ul>
308  <hr>
309
310  <p>Revised
311  <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->15
312  October, 2003<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="38556" --></p>
313
314  <p>&copy; Copyright Beman Dawes 2000</p>
315
316  <p>Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See
317  accompanying file <a href="../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or copy
318  at <a href=
319  "http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</p>
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