xref: /openbmc/docs/designs/design-template.md (revision 33b252952a718d47fcd0951c6047765feb66203b)
1____
2# Document Guidelines - *Delete this section*
3
4## Document Content
5* Not all new features need a design document. If a feature can be
6  contributed in a single reasonably small patchset that has little impact
7  to any other areas, it doesn't need a design discussion and documentation.
8* The focus of the design is to define the problem we need to solve and how it
9  will be implemented.
10
11* This is not intended to be extensive documentation for a new feature.
12
13* You should get your design reviewed and merged before writing your code.
14  However you are free to prototype the implementation, but remember that
15  you may learn of new requirements during the design review process that
16  could result in a very different solution.
17
18## Document Formatting
19* Your spec should be in Markdown format, like this template.
20
21* Please wrap text at 79 columns.
22
23* Please do not delete any of the sections in this template.  If you have
24  nothing to say for a whole section, just write: None
25
26* To view your .md file, see: https://stackedit.io/
27
28* If you would like to provide a diagram with your spec, ASCII diagrams are
29  required.  http://asciiflow.com/ is a very nice tool to assist with making
30  ASCII diagrams.  Plain text will allow the review to proceed without
31  having to look at additional files which can not be viewed in Gerrit.  It
32  will also allow inline feedback on the diagram itself.
33
34* Once ready for review, submit to gerrit and set the topic of the review
35  to "design"
36____
37
38# Example design - this is the design title
39
40Author:
41  < Name and Discord nickname >
42
43Other contributors:
44  < Name and/or Discord nickname or `None` >
45
46Created:
47  < Date initially created in Month D, Yr format (e.g. June 17, 2020 or Dec 19,
48  2019)>
49
50## Problem Description
51(1 paragraph) What are we doing and why? What problem are you trying to
52solve? What are the goals and NON-goals? Please make the objective
53understandable for someone unfamiliar with this project by including the
54necessary context, but keep it short. Elaborate on the details below in the
55Background and Requirements sections.
56
57## Background and References
58(1-2 paragraphs) What background context is necessary? You should mention
59related work inside and outside of OpenBMC. What other Open Source projects
60are trying to solve similar problems? Try to use links or references to
61external sources (other docs or Wikipedia), rather than writing your own
62explanations. Please include document titles so they can be found when links
63go bad.  Include a glossary if necessary. Note: this is background; do not
64write about your design, specific requirements details, or ideas to solve
65problems here.
66
67## Requirements
68(2-5 paragraphs) What are the constraints for the problem you are trying to
69solve? Who are the users of this solution? What is required to be produced?
70What is the scope of this effort? Your job here is to quickly educate others
71about the details you know about the problem space, so they can help review
72your implementation. Roughly estimate relevant details. How big is the data?
73What are the transaction rates? Bandwidth?
74
75## Proposed Design
76(2-5 paragraphs) A short and sweet overview of your implementation ideas. If
77you have alternative solutions to a problem, list them concisely in a bullet
78list.  This should not contain every detail of your implementation, and do
79not include code. Use a diagram when necessary. Cover major structural
80elements in a very succinct manner. Which technologies will you use? What
81new components will you write? What technologies will you use to write them?
82
83## Alternatives Considered
84(2 paragraphs) Include alternate design ideas here which you are leaning away
85from. Elaborate on why a design was considered and why the idea was rejected.
86Show that you did an extensive survey about the state of the art. Compares
87your proposal's features & limitations to existing or similar solutions.
88
89## Impacts
90API impact? Security impact? Documentation impact? Performance impact?
91Developer impact? Upgradability impact?
92
93### Organizational
94- Does this repository require a new repository?  (Yes, No)
95- Who will be the initial maintainer(s) of this repository?
96- Which repositories are expected to be modified to execute this design?
97- Make a list, and add listed repository maintainers to the gerrit review.
98
99## Testing
100How will this be tested? How will this feature impact CI testing?
101