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2 <head>
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3 <title>Project tools</title>
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4 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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5 </head>
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6
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7 <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
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8
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9 <p> </p>
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10 <h2>Project Tools</h2>
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11 <p> </p>
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12 <p>The standard tools used for development on the EQNLang project are:</p>
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13 <blockquote>
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14 <p><a href="http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/">Tortoise SVN</a> -- the revision
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15 control is done by the Tortoise client</p>
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16 <p><a href="http://www.netbeans.org/">Netbeans</a> -- preffered for development..
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17 other tools are fine, but no help will be available to figure out what's not
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18 working</p>
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19 <p><a href="http://www.inkscape.org/">inkscape</a> -- an SVG drawing tool. The
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20 custom graphics used to extend syntax are drawn using inkscape.</p>
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21 <p> </p>
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22 </blockquote>
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23 <p>====</p>
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24 <p> This part is about project-related things, like tools used, setting up the
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25 projects, coding style, etc </p>
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26 <p>=========== </p>
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27 <p>Using SVN: </p>
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28 <p>I use Tortoise SVN, after getting burned using netbean's built-in SVN, which
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29 caused problems.. </p>
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30 <p> Hostname: eqnlang.svn.sourceforge.net</p>
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31 <p> Port: 443</p>
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32 <p> Protocol: HTTPS </p>
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33 <p> Repository Path: /svnroot/eqnlang/YOURBRANCH/CTOSPlugIns</p>
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34 <p> For clients that use a URL string: https://eqnlang.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/eqnlang/YOURBRANCH/CTOSPlugIns</p>
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35 <p>==========</p>
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36 <p> </p>
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37 <p>IDE: </p>
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38 <p>Most people on the project use Netbeans, mostly because it's good enough and
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39 (arguably) easy to learn. I want all of us developers to use the same development
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40 tool so that everything goes smoothly.. we can share help on the IDE with each
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41 other, share setups and so on. Of course, if you have an IDE that you really
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42 want to use, that's up to you, it's just that there won't be much help available
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43 to you, you'll have to figure out how to make things work with your tool on
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44 your own. </p>
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45 <p>If you don't have a strong preference, would you be willing to try netbeans?
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46 </p>
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47 <p>Here's the link: http://www.netbeans.org/ to get the latest version </p>
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48 <p>========= </p>
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49 <p>Problem with netbeans's built-in SVN client: </p>
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50 <p>At one point, we were using netbeans's built-in SVN client, but had problems..
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51 the nbproject folder was included in the SVN, so each developer who checked
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52 in code would inadvertantly insert the paths for their own harddrive and cause
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53 everyone else's netbeans to fail. FYI, Most of the problems were in the file:
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54 nbproject/project.properties</p>
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55 <p>============= </p>
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56 <p></p>
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57 <p>Netbeans projects: </p>
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58 <p>I have structured the SVN repository in a way that is different from how netbeans
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59 structures code. The SVN repository has a standard hierarchy of directories.
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60 However, netbeans likes to have a directory above the one that contains the
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61 code. It places a special "nbproject" folder there, and puts all the
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62 code under the "src" folder. So, to work on the code in netbeans,
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63 first make a "project" directory, then make a "src" and
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64 a "test" directory under it, then go into the "src" directory..
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65 there, right click and choose "checkout", which uses the tortoise
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66 SVN client. Make sure the path is your own, special, branch in the repository,
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67 this is very important, as a separate branch has been set up in SVN for each
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68 developer who joins the project. This ensures that each developer has their
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69 own place to make changes, and I have a chance to look over the code before
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70 merging it into the trunk. Make the path include the "CTOSPlugIns"
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71 directory (note the capital "I"), and perform the checkout. When done,
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72 you will have six folders in your local "src" directory.</p>
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73 <p>====== </p>
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74 <p>Create the netbeans projects: </p>
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75 <p>Right after doing a checkout, you'll need to create a new netbeans project.</p>
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76 <p> -) Go in to netbeans, right click in the projects area, choose "new project"
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77 </p>
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78 <p>-) In the dialog choose "New Java project with Existing Sources" </p>
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79 <p>-) Click "browse" in the next dialog and navigate to the project folder you
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80 created earlier, the one that contains the "src" folder that you checked
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81 out the code into.</p>
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82 <p> -) After navigating to and choosing the folder, put a name for the project
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83 in "project name:" box, then click "next" </p>
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84 <p>-) click "add folder" and select the "src" sub-folder and click "finish"</p>
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85 <p>At this point, you should be able to build the code (unless I gave you a branch
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86 that has some skeleton code for you that's not filled in and won't compile..)</p>
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87 <p>======= </p>
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88 <p>Libraries:</p>
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89 <p>At the time of this writing, no external libraries are needed, but that may
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90 change. If the code doesn't compile because something can't be found, then it's
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91 probably because a library needs to be added. To add a library, expand the project
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92 in the projects window (click the "+" sign), so you can see the folders in it
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93 -- then right-click on the "Libraries" folder. This brings up a menu with options
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94 for adding a library..</p>
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95 <p>======= </p>
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96 <p>Development Interaction </p>
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97 <p>The method I want to use to develop the language and OS features is to co-develop
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98 the code. I want to choose the Class names, the directory names, and choose
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99 how to structure the code. I'll supply Class files with the public method names
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100 and perhaps some example code. I'll put comments inside the public methods that
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101 describe the behavior for you. </p>
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102 <p>Over time, I'll gain experience with you and you may earn my trust to take
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103 over making more of these decisions for the part you're developing.</p>
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104 <p> You'll earn my trust through looking at the coding style that's in the code
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105 and adopting that style the best way you can, for this project.</p>
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106 <p>========= </p>
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107 <p>Comment Style</p>
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108 <p>An easy way to earn more responsibility and ensure that the code you write
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109 gets merged into the main trunk quickly is to adopt a commenting style that
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110 makes it easy for me and the other developers to understand how each method
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111 you write interacts with each other method.</p>
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112 <p>As you'll soon see in the code, I use comments as a defense against my own
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113 brain. I forget everything I've done within a few months, so when I look at
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114 code I wrote before, it's like somebody else wrote it. This caused me to start
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115 the habit of writing comments in a certain way as a defense. </p>
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116 <p>When I write comments, I pretend that I am coming to the code fresh, and ask
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117 myself "what would I want someone to tell me, so that I could understand how
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118 to modify this code".. that usually includes things that I know at the moment
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119 about all the pieces that interact.. This is because I can always figure out
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120 the details by looking at the code, but in order to modify it, I have to understand
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121 how the pieces fit together. One important case of this is when one data-structure
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122 is used in a particular way in some other Class. </p>
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123 <p>The other thing I do is write comments before I write the code that state the
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124 strategy, or algorithm for the code. This gives me background when I come back
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125 to it, so I learn why I wrote it the way I did. I always imagine myself asking
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126 "why did you do it that way?"</p>
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127 <p>In fact, my code tends to have more lines of comment than lines of code, more
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128 like novels than programs. This has saved me many times, when I come back to
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129 change something, I have felt so grateful to myself for putting into the comments
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130 exactly what I needed to know to change the code.</p>
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131 <p> I encourage you to try this method if you plan to stay on the project. When
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132 you come back to change the code, it will give you a happy feeling that you
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133 put in the effort now, to save yourself headache then. </p>
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134 <p>It will also make it easier for future developers to use your code, rather
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135 than getting frustrated and removing it, then re-implementing it. Not to mention
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136 earn you points.</p>
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137 <p>========= </p>
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138 <p>Code Format </p>
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139 <p>I use the formatting style that I have found to be the easiest for me to see
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140 the structure of code when I read. I understand if you have a different preference
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141 that you want to keep. However, if you are willing to try the style I use, it
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142 is simple to learn: Every line of code has its first character in a multiple
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143 of 3 column: 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and so forth. So any text starts on one of those
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144 columns (except if it is a continuation of a previous line, in which case it's
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145 whatever looks good to your eye). </p>
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146 <p>Every curly brace resides in a column exactly in-between: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13.
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147 So when one looks at the code, all the curly braces line up, and all the code
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148 lines up, but in different columns. The eye quickly separates the curly braces
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149 from the code. The curly braces indicate the code structure, so the code structure
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150 is quickly seen. </p>
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151 <p>While I am looking over your contribution, there's a good chance that I'll
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152 be changing the format so that I can see the code structure more easily. You
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153 may find this to be annoying. I apologise if causes you to feel upset and will
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154 appreciate if you have patience with the changes.</p>
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155 <p>======= </p>
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156 <p>Progression of small project-pieces</p>
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157 <p> I would like to do the project in a sequence of pieces. Things will change
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158 over time as each piece is finished, building up on top of previous pieces.
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159 One thing that won't be obvious to developers is which code choices will fit
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160 in with future planned additions. I'll need your trust when I request a certain
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161 structure to the code. </p>
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162 <p>=======</p>
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163 <p>That's it, welcome to the EQNLang project!</p>
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164 <p>Sean</p>
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165 <p> </p>
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166 </body>
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167 </html>
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