Software Engineering Handbook
This site shares Digital Health and Care Wales' (DHCW) Software Engineering Handbook. Until now, these have only been available to internal staff.
Why have a handbook?
When you're building software, especially in healthcare, good guidance really matters. It helps everyone work in a consistent way, so the code is easier to understand, safer, and more reliable.
A handbook brings together all the important know-how: how to write clear, secure code; how to manage changes properly; how to work well across teams; and how to meet the expectations of modern software development.
It's there to help you make good decisions, avoid mistakes, and deliver software that others can trust and build on.
Terminology and Requirements
To be clear about what’s expected, we use specific words with defined meanings.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this handbook are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.
Contributing
We welcome suggestions and improvements from colleagues, partners, and the wider community.
To suggest a change, please open an issue using the issue form on this repository.
Please read:
If you're unsure whether your idea is ready, open an issue anyway and a maintainer will help shape it.