[cas-dev] Welcome CAS4 developers

Tue Oct 21 10:22:23 EDT 2008

On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Shivani Chandna
<shivani.chandna at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> Hello Scott,
>
> A few points that I would like to know:
>
> 1. From the documentation perspective:
>
> *"One of the first things I would recommend is taking a look at the
> existing documentation in our wiki, which is relatively "light-weight". "*
> You have also mentioned about the process of  documentation of code.
>
> But is there any defined process by which CAS wiki would have a complete
> documentation of CAS Architecture, design concepts etc. If not - do we plan
> to have one in CAS4 development plan?
> I think as more and more people are working on it - such documentation
> would enhance the easage of use and customization.
>

One of the goals is increase the amount of available documentation
available.  I've asked David to look into documenting appropriate guidelines
for providing documentation.  The guidelines should balance the need for
appropriate documentation with the fact that (a) developer's hate to write
documentation ;-) and (b) we're often time-constrained.  This is why I often
give the example of we need to make sure we document methods, but maybe
setters/getters can be skipped to save time.

For my part, since I'll be doing the bulk of the initial architecture in
Subversion and then coming to the list for feedback (mostly because we're
not all in the same room where we can whiteboard), I'll be sure to document
as much as possible. At the same time, the code should be clear enough that
anyone who browses it can figure out the architecture.

>
> 2. Is there any Mpp file shared - (for understanding the project plan
> details),   amongst all CAS developers - ?
>

We don't use Microsoft Project.  Its essentially a glorified task list that
generates pretty charts ;-).  We tend to put everything into JIRA.  But
again, some of the stuff in JIRA won't be finalized until we get to it.
I've already put a few of the initial items into JIRA.  Some have
appropriate sub tasks where I could figure those out already.

Thanks
-Scott

>
> Thanks,
> Shivani.
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 11:21 PM, Scott Battaglia <
> scott.battaglia at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dave,
>>
>> Thanks for taking on this task of doing a first draft of the developer
>> guidelines.  It will be an invaluable part of the CAS4 development, and give
>> us a starting point for presentation to the CAS developers, community and
>> steering committee for their approval.
>>
>> One of the first things I would recommend is taking a look at the existing
>> documentation in our wiki, which is relatively "light-weight".  The CAS
>> project consists of people who's institutional needs currently align with
>> that of the CAS4 roadmap (mostly because it was their input into the
>> roadmap) and thus the structure is rather fluid.  We do need some relatively
>> strict guidelines about documentation and code quality, but otherwise the
>> process is relatively loose to reflect the fact that people will be meeting
>> their institutional goals.
>>
>> Some areas that may be important to focus on:
>> 1. Recommendations for the sandboxing of code, including access to core
>> components of the CAS Server, and how to manage peripheral modules and
>> add-ons.
>> 2. Recommendations for JIRA issue, including things like distributed code
>> reviews, JIRA issue in commit messages, time estimates, etc.
>> 3. Recommendations for documentation guidelines, including what MOST be
>> documented (i.e. each class, each feature), what SHOULD be documented (i.e.,
>> all methods) and what isn't necessary (i.e. standard getters and setters).
>> 4. Recommendations for the build system (i.e. continuous, nightly, how to
>> handle regression testing, etc.)
>>
>> I think those are probably some of the most important areas for the
>> moment.  Our interest in development rules should focus on making sure we
>> meet documentation standards, transparency goals, and metrics to make sure
>> we're meeting our core requirements and roadmap.  We're not looking so much
>> for a strict process that must be followed, more the metrics we can compare
>> against to ensure that we're having consistant standards and quality goals.
>>
>> I would recommend and insist that all development discussion happen on the
>> CAS Developers mailing list, because this way the community can be engaged
>> as well as potential new development members.  In that light, I have CCed
>> the CAS Developers Mailing list on this email.
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>> -Scott
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 1:38 PM, David Whitehurst <dlwhitehurst at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Hello, Konichi wa, Bon jour', Hola', Ni Hao
>>>
>>> I've started some documentation in Confluence to provide documentation
>>> guidelines for us first and then the text product that we leave for
>>> the public.
>>>
>>> http://www.ja-sig.org/wiki/display/CAS/Documentation+Guidelines
>>>
>>> I wanted to ask everyone to start thinking about what makes you tick
>>> workwise, i.e. how do you work best?  E.g. I work best after lots of
>>> discussion and then I just go work in isolation and then come back for
>>> the next task.  Some folks are paralyzed without excellent written
>>> instructions.  Some people are afraid to ask for work.  Others can't
>>> assign work to team members.  I'm shameless and you'll find that I
>>> exhibit all bad traits.
>>>
>>> What I do well is facilitate.  And, I want us to be productive and
>>> successful.  I'm a stickler for good process but very liberal as how
>>> any group develops or evolves into a good process.  And, I think that
>>> we should share each other's story so to speak and get to know each
>>> other.  And, then we should discuss the work that we're going to do
>>> and how we best do it.
>>>
>>> Please continue this thread, each of you, and let's build a team.
>>> You've now been "empowered" to introduce yourself.  :-)
>>>
>>> P.S. Scott, can you make us an email as CAS4 developers?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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