Re: Task-focused development

[Joerg Heinicke <jo...@gmx.de>]

On 10.03.2007 17:53, Grzegorz Kossakowski wrote:

> I would like to ask if you have no objections to creating issues on JIRA
> for each task I'm going to work.

Once upon the time ... we tried to use Bugzilla for project management 
and release planning (but it was not really successful). So I think 
there are no objections to use Jira for task-focused development ...

> I already use Mylar[1] while working on
> Cocoon so create such issues in my local repository but I think it would
> be more valuable to have this information in JIRA. This would enable
> others to keep track on my work more easily.

... if you report us how it works out :-) Actually I'm really interested 
  in it (not only for Cocoon but in general). I recently read the 
two-part article at [1] and [2]. The interesting it sounds the much I 
fear the "loss" of information or hiding of important stuff (forgotten 
commits?). What are your experiences?

> It's rather common practice to stop discussing in JIRA issue and move to
> the mailing list. I would like to know if there exist some guidelines
> when to discuss in JIRA and when on mailing list?

There are no real guidelines and I don't think it is that important 
where to discuss it. Jira notification mails end on the mailing list 
anyway. One reason for switching to mailing list might just be the 
(missing) performance of Jira. Otherwise if a comment is related to an 
issue adding it to Jira is perfectly suited. If the need for a broader 
discussion arises using the mailing list might be better.

Looking forward to your experiences with Mylar and your actual work :-)

Regards
Jörg

[1] http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-mylar1/
[2] http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-mylar2/

Re: Task-focused development

[Vadim Gritsenko <va...@reverycodes.com>]

Grzegorz Kossakowski wrote:
> Joerg Heinicke napisał(a):
>> On 10.03.2007 17:53, Grzegorz Kossakowski wrote:
>>
>>> It's rather common practice to stop discussing in JIRA issue and move to
>>> the mailing list. I would like to know if there exist some guidelines
>>> when to discuss in JIRA and when on mailing list?
>>
>> There are no real guidelines and I don't think it is that important 
>> where to discuss it. Jira notification mails end on the mailing list 
>> anyway.

Jira notifications often are meaningless, and at the very least are pain to 
parse and are out of the context.

The preferred approach is to have any non trivial discussion on the list, and 
after that you can add a link to the discussion to the jira issue.

Vadim


>> One reason for switching to mailing list might just be the 
>> (missing) performance of Jira. Otherwise if a comment is related to an 
>> issue adding it to Jira is perfectly suited. If the need for a broader 
>> discussion arises using the mailing list might be better.
> 
> I see, thanks for explanation.
> 
>>
>> Looking forward to your experiences with Mylar and your actual work :-)
>>
> 
> I hope that quite long report will encourage you to make an attempt to 
> try Mylar.
> 

Re: Task-focused development

[Grzegorz Kossakowski <gk...@apache.org>]

Joerg Heinicke napisał(a):
> On 10.03.2007 17:53, Grzegorz Kossakowski wrote:
> 
> 
> Once upon the time ... we tried to use Bugzilla for project management 
> and release planning (but it was not really successful). So I think 
> there are no objections to use Jira for task-focused development ...

I believe that we could try do so again and it would be successful 
attempt. Why? Because I believe that most of Eclipse-lovers will become 
Mylar-lovers and they will create tasks for their convenience. However, 
let's wait a little bit before discussing this.

> 
> ... if you report us how it works out :-) Actually I'm really interested 
>  in it (not only for Cocoon but in general). I recently read the 
> two-part article at [1] and [2]. The interesting it sounds the much I 
> fear the "loss" of information or hiding of important stuff (forgotten 
> commits?). What are your experiences?

:-)
First of all, Mylar is really not so intrusive. If you do not activate 
some task your IDE will be behaving as before, no hiding stuff, no fancy 
icons in your Java editor etc.
When you decide to use Mylar you will have to create the task and it's 
essential moment IMHO. You have to create tasks appropriately sized. If 
they were too small you would end up switching between them frequently 
and slowly getting tired about it. If they are too big, many files and 
changes would be involved in the task and Mylar adds no value then. 
Little practice will shape your sense.

Then at the beginning you switch off hiding the package explorer and 
open few file(s) which are going to be your start point. Now you turn on 
Mylar's hiding and start exploring the code by the following the 
references in your start point code. All newly opened files will appear 
in the package explorer. While you explore/write a code Mylar observe 
your actions and try adjust the information set (visible files, methods 
etc.) to the task you are currently working on. And it does really good 
job! Mylar remembers all the setting for each task separately and even 
enables you to attach task context to the issue and let others quickly 
look what you exactly working on.

Now to answer your concerns... If you touch or even look on any file 
while working on the task it will appear in your task's context so there 
is no way you will omit some changes while committing. It would be more 
likely that there are too many files included in the context (e.g. 
you've opened some file by accident), but this does not happen either. 
Mylar is smart enough to forget files you do not touch for too long.
What is more, you can switch off hiding at any time you like, so you can 
always make sure that all changes has been committed.

For me, first 2 hours were difficult because I felt really confused that 
all this unrelated to my current work junk is gone. Now I cannot use 
Eclipse without it... :-)

> 
>> It's rather common practice to stop discussing in JIRA issue and move to
>> the mailing list. I would like to know if there exist some guidelines
>> when to discuss in JIRA and when on mailing list?
> 
> There are no real guidelines and I don't think it is that important 
> where to discuss it. Jira notification mails end on the mailing list 
> anyway. One reason for switching to mailing list might just be the 
> (missing) performance of Jira. Otherwise if a comment is related to an 
> issue adding it to Jira is perfectly suited. If the need for a broader 
> discussion arises using the mailing list might be better.

I see, thanks for explanation.

> 
> Looking forward to your experiences with Mylar and your actual work :-)
> 

I hope that quite long report will encourage you to make an attempt to 
try Mylar.

-- 
Grzegorz Kossakowski