[jawsscripts] Re: collaboration

  • From: Doug Lee <doug.lee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: jawsscripts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:17:17 -0500

I have now used three different version control systems to manage
scripting projects.  CVS is the oldest, Subversion more recent, and
Bazaar the latest.  I use CVS for a lot of long-term projects that
started years ago, Subversion for the Skype scripts, and Bazaar for
new stuff I'm working on.  I would say CVS is no longer the way to
go on new projects, though there is a version of CVS called CVSNT
that I have not examined thoroughly.  CVS itself does not support
a lot of things very well that later systems support and that are
likely to happen, such as renaming files, moving files, making
subfolders, and handling binary files.  Subversion can handle all
of those issues pretty well, and it is easy to use, but I don't
find it very easy to set up initially.  Bazaar is very new, very
easy to set up, able to handle all of the mentioned issues, and
also able to do what is called "distributed version control."

For a scripting project, a lot of the power of the modern version
control systems may not be particularly necessary.  I like to prepare
for possibilities before they happen, but that's just me. :-)  In
my job, though, I also need the distributed version control support,
though I'm avoiding an in-depth explanation of that in this message
so I don't confuse people with a lot of stuff that isn't specifically
related to scripting.

I don't remember URLs for CVS or Subversion off the top of my head,
but Bazaar, including a Windows installer for it, can be had from

http://bazaar-vcs.org

One final point:  Version control systems do help with sharing of
course, but they do more than that.  They make it possible to recover
from slowly-discovered coding mistakes.  They also make it possible to
return to a particular version to test something that's happening on a
customer's machine even though they've missed the last four script
updates.  It takes some getting used to, but version control is orders
of magnitude better than just keeping myriad copies of entire script
folders lying around.

On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 07:59:59AM -0700, Jackie McBride wrote:
Hi List:

My entire scripting existence I've written scripts on my own.
Yesterday, I was approached w/the possibility of collaborating w/a
fellow scripter on a project, &, for a variety of reasons,
particularly time constraints on my part as well as a profound respect
for the person in question, I decided to accept his offer of
assistance.  Emails crossing w/various versions of the scripts being
developed quickly led us to believe that we needed to develop some
format for exchanging work if this were to be a successful endeavor.
Unfortunately, neither of us has ever done this b4.  My initial
thought is to assign various tasks, where each person works on part of
the application independently & where there is no overlap.  That, of
course, can be hard to do, especially w/a complex program, as this is.

So, has any1 ever done this, & how have u managed version control?
Any help appreciated.
--
Jackie McBride
Please join my fight against breast cancer
<http://teamacs.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=1790196&pg=personal&fr_id=3489>
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Doug Lee, Senior Accessibility Programmer
SSB BART Group
mailto:doug.lee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
"While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done,
it was done." --Helen Keller
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