SYSE.33:1 - Problem frame

Use this pattern when development or a test works only on one prepared machine, fails because of shared mutable state, or cannot be repeated after an environment is lost. Start with the named task and the conditions it needs, including the resources, dependencies, data and access that must actually be available.

The first result is an environment that can be created and exercised for that task, with its applicable conditions and limits. If a required resource, permission or data source is unavailable, return the reconstructible description and the precise missing result; do not call that a usable environment.

An already adequate environment does not need a new provisioning architecture merely because another tool is fashionable. Exact identity of every incidental machine property is unnecessary unless the task depends on it. This pattern concerns software development and test conditions, not the complete qualification of a physical laboratory or production process.