Tips for the final chapter

Congratulations, you are almost there! Some final tips for the final chapter:

Prioritization is key. You have only 5k words in your chapter, and you probably wrote more than that. Thus, you should focus on prioritizing what goes to the chapter. Focus on the final reader: what do they really need to know about the architecture of my system?
Interpretation is what matters. Remember that you are working on all the different viewpoints (and their specific tasks, such as using tools to measure technical debt, or analyzing PRs to get a better sense of context) with the goal of understanding the system. Do not “only copy and paste” the results of Sonarqube or the last 10 PRs you found; interpret them. What do your findings teach us about the system? Ask yourself not only “what”, but also “why”.
See examples from previous years. You can learn from our former students. Check our DESOSA 2017 and DESOSA 2016 editions. Strong examples are JUnit 5, BigBlueButton, Yarn, and SciKit Learn.

Work on feedback. Feedback is only as good as what students do with it. Our TAs did their best to provide you with rich feedback and points to improve. To strenghten your learning experience, you should react to this feedback. We expect you to perform improvements on your chapter where you see fit. At this point, your journal is your best friend: make sure to report how you tackled their feedback. The clearer the journal, the easier it is for TAs to see your effort, and grade you accordingly.
Perform final checks. After making changes, make sure to re-read your chapter fully before submitting, to make sure the story as a whole still stands. Check references, table/figure numbers and links before submission.

Presentation tips

Clear structure. Have a clearly defined structure to your presentation. Make sure your peers know what to expect from your story. Speakers must have enthousiasm. Make sure your audience gets what your system does and its main architectural decisions. Nice slides are also a plus. And, of course, practice a few times before presenting!
Prioritization is also key. Just as with your chapter, also prioritisation is key for your presentation! Don’t cram your presentation full of details, focus on the main message that you want to convey. Sometimes less is indeed more, because your audience now better understands what the system is about, what are its key characteristics, etc.