March 29, 2006
Success
We have a new configuration manager here, somebody who used to work here, and has now come back. Luckily, I finished the build/release product before he got here, and he seems to like it - at least he isn't complaining to me. Our build/release system is very complicated, as it has to build something that the government calls "segments". Don't ask, you won't like the answer.
So, while I wait for another bunch of projects to come to a point that I can port them to this process/product - I am looking for a new issue tracker tool. Nobody likes the tool we are using right now, the configuration manager least of all. So, I am looking for an issue manager that uses subversion. Trac seems to be the best bet. So, I am trying to build it, knowing nada, zip, nothing about Python.
It isn't building. It can't seem to find the sqlite library. It should be able to find it - I dropped the exe and dll into System32.
I put a Please help me on the mailing list - but zip so far.
More & more I want to write the issue/requirements tracker that has been in my head for so long. I would write it in either java, php or Ruby on Rails. I would put an embedded firebird database behind it. Now, I have to get people to believe that they should let me do this at work. I am too damn old and tired to do it at home in my oh so copious spare time.
Posted by liz at 02:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 14, 2005
Build/release
Until we find somebody who wants to do it, I have been named acting Build/Release Engineer at my new shop. This is to go along with my more formal title of Toolsmith and person who is available for anybody to work with (I guess that isn't a real title). They decided that I was the best person to be the acting B/R person because I am terribly interested in getting agile to play nicely with CMMI 3 (moving to CMMI 4 in the next year). Reasonable decision.
But, as usual, there is a problem here. I have No idea what a build/release engineer does when you also have 2 configuration engineers on the project. For some reason, I can't see how you can be one without being the other. Right now, I am automating the build process, but I would be doing that anyway in my role as toolsmith. If anybody who reads this (and there aren't that many readers) has a good definition of what the various people do - I would love to read the defs.
Maven2: We are giving up on maven 2 except for library management. I don't like a whole lot of things about it, but what I dislike the most is that it seems to believe that if you are managing with maven, you want to manage everything with maven. Well, all of you maven people, I don't want maven writing over my classpath file. I want it to update it. I don't want it to overwrite my project file either. And I certainly am not going to trust my code to a project that is averaging 100 bugreports a day after it is released. It is nice that they decided to rewrite maven - but they need better quality control.
I am refactoring the stuff I wrote 2 weeks ago. My partner in crime (even if he is across the whole damn country) is trying to get me to look at ivy. I am not sure if we can get Ivy to do what he seems to want it to do.
I got XPlanner working today. I am going to install it on a real machine tomorrow. I then will decide what we want to do with it.
Posted by liz at 04:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2005
database or no database?
I just finished the no database build environment. mg asked me why anybody would ever want to use it? I am now wondering this myself. I am not sure that any build environment should not include a test database (preferably embedded).
Any opinions on this?
Posted by liz at 04:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 08, 2005
Firebird infinitum
Ok, maybe I am just picky. But, really, I would like it if jaybird actually worked with the sql task in ant. I have code that has worked with 3 other databases (all it does is build tables). I get a null pointer exception when I use firebird.
This means (of course) that I now have to do all sorts of configuration (string replacements and such) and run isql through exec in order to create the tables, views, etc in my firebird code. I don't know about you - but I think this is the shits.
If anybody wants the code, I will be happy to supply it. Or am I the only idiot that is trying to do things like this?
I work in a big company full of consultants. Worse, these consultants never spend any time with each other - because they are too busy consulting. I am trying to write push button scripts that we can demand the consultants use - if we can't force them to unit test (they seem to think that unit tests are for use cases) we can at least build their environment in order to give them the opportunity to unit test.
So, this is why I am spending my time trying to write idiot proof scripts and processes. At least one lead has drunk the koolaid - and is beginning to follow my process and configuration. Now, I have to spread it through the rest of the company.
I was the tech interviewer 2 days ago for a person who wanted a tech lead job. 15 years in the business. She had never heard of Ant, Hibernate or Spring. I am not sure if she knew the difference between an EJB and a javabean. This is a woman with a masters in computer science. She also thought that unit tests are for use cases. Where are people getting this idea?
I am not real big on design patterns - but I do think people should be able to at least identify the MVC pattern. Come on, we can do better than this.
We aren't hiring her. At least, I hope we aren't.
Posted by liz at 12:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack