rseng-management-planning

# Planning research software: management plans and technology choice Use this skill at the start of a research software project, or whenever a project's direction needs to be captured or revisited: drafting a Software Management Plan (SMP), reviewing one against community standards, or choosing the language, frameworks, and infrastructures to build on. It covers management planning and technology choice. Tailor the rigor to the software's type and intended lifespan - do not push a throwaway prototype through the full governance apparatus of long-lived infrastructure. ## What a Software Management Plan is An SMP is a living document that plans how software will be developed, maintained, shared, and preserved, capturing key decisions early and updating them as the project evolves. Frame it to the user as guidance embedded in the process, not a one-off deliverable. It exists to serve five concerns; name the ones that matter for the project: - Reproducibility and reusability: the software can be reliably reproduced, verified, and reused by others. - Funding and milestones: funders can see the development strategy and track progress against it. - Community standards and best practices: code review, continuous integration, testing, documentation standards, and FAIR4RS principles are planned in, not bolted on. - Accessibility: the software is discoverable, accessible, and usable by the wider research community. - Credit and impact: how contributors are acknowledged (c...