On Jul 10, 2007, at 5:50 PM, Paul McNett wrote:
> I'll say it again: regular users using the trunk is too close to the
> bleeding edge. They *should* be using the most recent stable version.
I have to *strongly* disagree, and I think I know why we have such
different POVs: I'm writing the tools for our users, and you're not.
Let me explain.
In the course of writing the Class Designer, I constantly find
limitations in the framework. Either something is not possible, or it
is possible only with a lot of mindless, repetitive code. When I run
into a situation like that, I add that missing piece to the
framework, and then write the code for the tool to use this new
feature. The tool benefits, of course, but so does everyone else, as
they now have access to this new capability.
As soon as I do that, though, nobody using the 'stable' version can
use these tools, since by definition nothing new can ever be added to
the stable version. They are going to have to wait for the next full
point release before they can use the tool. This is unacceptable,
since full point releases are so far apart. Our last was 2 months
ago; before that: 6 months; before that, 8 months. Telling someone
that they can't use a tool for several months just doesn't cut it.
You bring up an excellent point: using the trunk is indeed too close
to the bleeding edge. That's why I don't want to have to tell people
interested in using the visual tools that in order to do so, they
have to stay on that bleeding edge. The update system I have devised
satisfies both concerns, since we only mark a build when we are
adequately convinced that it won't cause bleeding. This may take
several days of testing and feedback, but once it is apparent that
there is nothing nasty, we mark that as the current build and make it
available to all.
-- Ed Leafe
-- http://leafe.com
-- http://dabodev.com
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