Hi Yahel,
Well, I'm programming since 25 Years in various languages. I have written
demos for the demoscene on 8 and 16 bit Computers. Have written two small
succesfull computer games. I have programmed as a freelances in different
(big) companies. In my current job I'm still a developer by heart but doing
additionally architecture and technical project management for the
Enterprise.
In my spare time I'm currently programming a game for the Android platform.
After all the years I realized to be sucesfull and to finish a project as a
lonely wolf programmer things are different than in the enterprise.
It was necessary for me to Go back to the roots.
In my home grown game framework I have thrown out all Unit Tests! I
consider it just distracting noise.
I switched to an old programming style. Everything as staright to the point
as possible.
For personal projects I have only a limited attention span. Usually after
6-9 Month I loose intrested in the project.
So important goals for me are:
- To keep the project small enough to get finished in this time span.
- Do everything which keeps the project interesting and try to expand the
6-9 month time span.
- Avoid everything which does not directly contribute to the project.
= This means: Doing no Unit Testing!
When you develop a game, you usually test the game every 30 Minutes. You
test your new function. You check how the new fancy effekt looks like on
screen. You test your new weapon which you have just finished
implementing. You test the sound effects. You tweak the graphics. You play,
play, play and play the game over and over again.
...Serious bugs usually show up very quickly and usually I fix them
immediately if I discover one.
So, my recommedation for a beginner is:
Keep it fun! It feels good if a new feature looks good on screen! The
constant visuall feedback you get in game development can drive you trough
the project.
If you don't like Unit testing. Don't do it! Concentrate on the game and
game play.
If you finish your project you will be judged by your game and not by your
source code and how much test coverage you have.
This is just my very personal opinion.
BTW: For projects consiting of more than three people things start to look
different.
Kind Regards,
Ralf
2010/3/11 Yahel kaye...@gmail.com
Hi everyone,
Not really Android specific but :
I've just read Bob Kern's answer to a vaillant 14 years old programmer
who wants to write a game for Android.
Bob's advice is good as always and he states :
Learn how to test effectively. Use unit tests for as much of your
system as you can. Go to junit.org for more information. If you write
your tests first, you'll clarify what you want to do, and it all gets
much easier. But testing is also a skill that needs to be developed.
Now I've been a developper for 10 years, mostly solo works, and I have
never ever used UnitTesting, ever. Be it in VB, C++, PHP, ASP, Ruby
and now Android.
Do you guys really use it in your ANDROID apps at all ?
Do you really feel it makes a (significant) difference in your
code(app) in the end ?
From a conversation from the beginning of the week I'm now having to
learn the full xml RFC, so please don't try to hard to convince me,
I'm beginning to feel dizzy already :D
Sorry for the OOST.
Yahel
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