These days, I have started learning to write enterprise level code and started to follow open source codes. Apart from the readability to have comments in the code, I liked having author name in the code/file which I write.
Do we have any plugin/macro/extension which will automatically add my name and email id in the beginning, to the files which I create in visual studio.
Any plugin or process to generate a template for comments too automatically, automatically cause i can bother less on the template and can bother mmore about the description is much appreciated.
Apart from the readability to have comments in the code, I liked having author name in the code/file which I write.
Why? What useful information does it provide, which can't be better ascertained elsewhere? I've always found it a pain, personally - it gets out of date so quickly when other maintainers are involved, and it just clutters up the code.
Any decent source control system will show you the history of a file including who's behind each commit, and also show an annotated version of the file to show which commit last edited each line. Both of these are far more useful than hand-written, out-of-date annotations which are irrelevant when actually writing code.
I'd strongly advise you to stop even looking for such a feature.
Related
I manage a project in transifex to localize an open source C++/Qt project. A lot of people contributed translations so far and I'm satisfied with the progress made.
However, I fail to find out how to clean up unused, untranslated languages. Every now and then, people request rare languages and never contribute any translations. This produces a lot of empty translation files in my repository.
Now after a certain time I have almost 90 languages and around 20 of them are untranslated. I wonder, how can I remove them completely from my project resources?
The documentation suggests to delete the translations:
$ tx delete -r project.resource -l en_US,en_AU
I tried that, but this only removes the translations, not the language at all.
How to remove the whole language from my project?
This information is outdated, see this other answer.
Sam from the Transifex team here. You can remove languages by going to Dashboard > Teams & Languages. From there, click the down arrow next to the team that's translating your project, then hit the Delete button next to the languages you want to remove.
If you're interested, here is a diagram of the relationship between organizations, teams, projects, and languages. Hope this helps.
The UI changed. You can find the current way in the Transifex documentation.
To track changes in OSX filesystem while an installer runs I'm trying to use the fs_usage.
Can somebody guide me with a simple example on how to interpret the result. There a lot of terms I don't understand when I examine it.
fs_usage's output tends to be full of irrelevant chatter, and hard to interpret. I'd recommend using fseventer, which just shows changed files without all the nonsense. If you're an Apple developer, you can also use PackageMaker's snapshot package feature (which records everything that happens, and offers to make an installer package that does the same things).
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Do you need a project management system if you work alone? I mean a project management system that includes issue tracking, wiki, etc.
Currently I keep my issues in a very good organizer software and I keep project documentation in Word files (and of course I have a version control system), so I am not really sure if I need a project management software, because I work alone.
One useful thing, I can think of, that project management system can additionally give me is linking issues with commits (UPDATE: I've found this feature useful enough: for example, right now I am creating documentation for the new release of my project and I consequently open every issue with "Pending for release" status, then I read the issue's description and then I can quickly view the diff of the commit for this issue - this helps me to see details and write better documentation).
Another one - sharing issues so your users or your employer can view or manage them.
What am I missing? Is project management software necessary when working as the only programmer?
UPDATE: I've thought up another useful thing: In comments we can give a link to an issue or a wiki article with detailed information about the code being commented.
You say you use some organizer software that helps you managing issues. So you already have your custom project management system. Just keep it.
Project management systems does not have to be big, support sharing data or other kinds of documentation. As a programmer you are supposed to use one to make your work organized, but it doesn't matter which one. You can happily use plain text files if they work for you.
Still, if there is even a slight chance that you'll be cooperating with someone, you should try something that allows cooperation... just to know how they work.
Do you need a project management system if you work alone?
Yes.
Currently I keep my issues in a very good organizer software and I keep project documentation in Word files (and of course I have a version control system).
See. You have a project management system. Why ask?
project management system can additionally give me is linking issues with commits.
That's not necessarily project management. You can easily do that with you version control software.
Read this: http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/issuetrackers.html
sharing issues so your users or your employer can view or manage them.
That means you're not working alone, if you're sharing something. What are you asking for here? How to share?
When working alone is the key thought to pursue here. When you are alone, you don't have the luxury of having someone else to keep you on your toes. A good "system" is essential therefore in order to help you manage your projects. As to which system to employ, that all comes down to your individual needs, and how much time you want to spend maintaining such a system.
If there is any possibility that you will need to involve someone else, then you need to decide if the system you use will scale to meet your changing requirements. This is also true if you continue to work alone and your workload changes.
As for software, that is almost another question entirely. I personally prefer to use a software tool to track all of my tasks, and to help me to collate data that helps me to determine priorities and task scheduling. That is in a nutshell what project management is all about. When working at home on my own projects, I use a simple Redmine configuration to manage different types of projects. Planning for programming projects, working out the logistics for my wedding, even managing my house renovations. All have been added to my private Redmine setup because I'm too lazy to try and keep paper-diary styled systems updated. At work, I have a more complex configuration to manage the myriad of programming projects we have here, and to manage the dependencies between them.
I've found though, that the most important thing is to ensure that the processes are streamlined, and that the supporting tool can be configured to match the processes. You don't want to have to change your processes because the tool isn't up to par. Also, the tool should not become the sole focus of all of your efforts, therefore it should be configured to reduce the "red-tape" side of things. You only want to capture enough information to describe your tasks, and to determine when they need to be done, who will do them, and when they are completed. Yes, your needs may require more information to be captured, but always try to minimise this, as you don't want to feel like you are always updating your project management tool when you'd rather be working on that latest killer algorithm you've been looking forward to doing! ;-)
I would not want to work without a system like trac anymore, even if I'm the only one working on the project. You should use a version control system of course, no question about that. Then there are two or three things coming up, you also mentioned.
First is documentation. There are lots of different possibilities and a wiki is just one of it. I personally use the wiki mostly for ideas, thoughts and notes. It's easy to put drawings in it, link to ressources in the web and really quickly edit. This can not replace in code documentation you do with source comments or tools like doxygen. And this can also not replace a manual, if the project requires one.
The second thing you'll come across is some kind of todos, let it be bug reports (even from yourself), feature requests, things like that. You can put them as comments in your code or use a list in a text file or your PIM system, but you can also use a ticket system, just to keep track of what you want to or have to do in the project in the future. You can not do everything just now.
Third is the bigger plan, this is not just atomic todos but things trac calls milestones. This has to be written down somewhere.
The great thing about trac now is, you can integrate all these thing you have to do anyway in one tool and even cross link between all the parts. Link to code lines from a ticket, reference tickets in a commit message, use ressources from your repository in the wiki, automatically build doxygen and integrate it and so on. You must decide if you want to use trac for all the things around your project or something else, but you have these things anyway so why not use a system integrating it all? ;-)
I mean a project management system that includes issue tracking, wiki, etc.
I don't use an Issue Tracker, but I practice continuous (not "big bang") integration, and I test (look for bugs) early and often, and I fix any bugs as soon as I find them, so that list of known Issues remains small.
I also have a lot of structure in the source code (e.g. separate projects/assemblies for separate components), so I try to have "the code is the documentation".
The table at What Types of Documents Should You Create? implies that you may not need documentation (e.g. a wiki), unless you're working with other people: e.g. with a manager, testers, and/or end-users.
You may be the only programmer now but will it stay that way forever? I often work alone on development projects but I still track the "to do" list and issues in a simple Access database. Makes it much easier if you need to expand/hand over a project.
You absolutely do, at least for a bigger projects that take a few months. For the past years I tried :
eclipse notepad plugin - just text file - effective
eclipse mylyn tasks - better, enough for one-man-show, but I was still having issues with migration between eclipse instances
youtrack is free and it's like a JIRA but more simple and practical for an individualist
With notepad I was able to focus on current task, but I wasn't able to maintain long term iterations, because without issue tracker I was loosing discipline, dealing with 3 tasks at the same time, not finishing them, etc.
Is there any way to generate the good error report from Cruise Control?
I like to get the following things in that report.
The line number of File that break the build
The name of developer who commited that file. (It should not be related to last person who committed because the build might be broken earlier before last person check-in. )
Thanks.
this should be doable with a bit of xsl parsing alone :-)
Needed steps :
Create the xsl file (blame.xsl for instance)
this xsl should look at the <modifications/> node and the <msbuild/> node to get the data.
Define a new xslReportBuildPlugin in your webdashboard.config pointing to the
new xsl file. Something in the likes of :
<xslReportBuildPlugin description="Blame"
actionName="BlameBuildReport" xslFileName="xsl\blame.xsl"/>
do an iisreset to activate it (just to be sure) and clear your browser cache
now you should see a Blame in every build report :-)
Custom report creation information
A custom xsl modification to bring the error info up to the top of the file - this would be helpful in applying the blame
Then if you add in thesteps from Williams' answer you'd have blame information.
You do already have the file/line number. CruiseControl.NET provides the detailed MSBuild report, which is nothing but the usual compiler output.
This would be only possible with an extension that is specific your the Version Control System. You would have to write such an extension by yourself (but I doubt that it's worth the effort...).
HTH.
I've used source controls for a few years (if you count the Source Safe years), but am by no means an expert. We currently are using an older version of Sourcegear Vault. Our team currently uses a check out and lock model. I would rather switch to a update and merge model, but need to convince the other developers.
The reason the developers (not me) set up to work as check out and lock was due to renegade files. Our company works with a consulting firm to do much of our development work. Some years ago, long before my time here, they had the source control set up for update and merge. The consultants went to check in, but encountered a merge error. They then chose to work in a disconnected mode for months. When it was finally time to test the project, bugs galore appeared and it was discovered that the code bases were dramatically different. Weeks of work ended up having to be redone. So they went to check out and lock as the solution.
I don't like check out and lock, because it makes it very difficult for 2 or more people to work in the same project at the same time. Whenever you add a new file of any type or change a file's name, source control checks out the .csproj file. That prevents any other developers from adding/renaming files.
I considered making just the .csproj file as mergable, but the Sourcegear site says that this is a bad idea, because csproj is IDE auto-generated and that you cannot guarantee that two different VS generated files will produce the same code.
My friend (the other developer) tells me that the solution is to immediately check in your project. To me, the problem with this is that I may have a local copy that won't build and it could take time to get a build. It could be hours before I get the build working, which means that during that time, no one else would be able to create and rename files.
I counter that the correct solution is to switch to a mergable model. My answer to the "renegade files" issue is that it was an issue of poor programmer discipline and that you shouldn't use a weaker programmer choice as a fix for poor discipline; instead you should take action to fix the lack of programmer discipline.
So who's right? Is check in - check out a legitimate answer to the renegade file issue? Or does the .csproj issue far too big of a hassle for multiple developers? Or is Sourcegear wrong and that it should be ok to set the csproj file to update and merge?
The problem with update and merge that you guys ran into was rooted in a lack of communication between your group and the consulting group, and a lack of communication from the consulting group to your group as to what the problem was, and not necessarily a problem with the version control method itself. Ideally, the communication problem would need to be resolved first.
I think your technical analysis of the differences between the two version control methodologies is sound, and I agree that update/merge is better. But I think the real problem is in the communication to the people in your group(s), and how that becomes apparent in the use of version control, and whether the people in the groups are onboard/comfortable with the version control process you've selected. Note that as I say this, my own group at work is struggling through the exact same thing, only with Agile/SCRUM instead of VC. It's painful, it's annoying, it's frustrating, but the trick (I think) is in identifying the root problem and fixing it.
I think the solution here is in making sure that (whatever VC method is chosen) is communicated well to everyone, and that's the complicated part - you have to get not just your team on board with a particular VC technique, but also the consulting team. If someone on the consulting team isn't sure of how to perform a merge operation, well, try to train them. The key is to keep the communication open and clear so that problems can be resolved when they appear.
Use a proper source control system (svn, mercurial, git, ...)
If you are going to do a lot of branching, don't use anything less recent than svn 1.6. I'm guessing mercurial/git would be an even better solution, but I don't have too much hands-on-experience using those yet.
If people constantly are working on the same parts of the system, consider the system design. It indicates that each unit has too much responsibility.
Never, ever accept people to offline for more than a day or so. Exceptions to this rule should be extremely rare.
Talk to each other. Let the other developers know what your are working on.
Personally I would avoid having project files in my repository. But then again, I would never ever lock developers to one tool. Instead I would use a build system that generated project files/makefiles/whatever (CMake is my flavor for doing this).
EDIT: I think locking files is fixing the symptoms, not the disease. You will end up having developers doing nothing if this becomes a habit.
I have worked on successful projects with teams of 40+ developers using the update-and-merge model. The thing that makes this method work is frequent merges: the independent workers are continuously updating (merging down) changes from the repository, and everyone is frequently merging up their changes (as soon as they pass basic tests).
Merging frequently tends to mean that each merge is small, which helps a lot. Testing frequently, both on individual codebases and nightly checkouts from the repository, helps hugely.
We are using subversion with no check-in/check-out restrictions on any files in a highly parallel environment. I agree that the renegade files issue is a matter of discipline. Not using merge doesn't solve the underlying problem, what's preventing the developer from copying their own "fixed" copy of code over other people's updates?
Merge is a pita, but that can be minimized by checking in and updating your local copy early and often. I agree with you regarding breaking checkins, they are to be avoided. Updating your local copy with checked in changes on the other hand will force you to merge your changes in properly so that when you finally check-in things go smoothly.
With regards to .csproj files. They are just text, they are indeed mergeable if you spend the time to figure out how the file is structured, there are internal references that need to be maintained.
I don't believe any files that are required to build a project should be excluded from version control. How can you reliably rebuild or trace changes if portions of the project aren't recorded?
I am the development manager of a small company, only 3 programmers.
The projects we work on sometimes take weeks and we employ the big bang, shock and awe implementation style. This means that we have lots of database changes and program changes that have to work perfectly on the night that we implement. We checkout a program, change it and set it aside because implementing it before everything else will make 20 other things blow up. I am for check out and lock. Otherwise, another person might change a few things not realizing that program has had massive changes already. And the merge only helps if you haven't made database changes or changes to other systems not under source control. (Microsoft CRM, basically any packaged software that is extensible through configuration)
IMO, project files such as .csproj should not be part of the versioning system, since they aren't source really.
They also almost certainly are not mergeable.