[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Bug tracking (was: 1.6RC1 - Acquistions - possible bugs)

[Karen Schneider]

> Again, though, the trick is finding the right balance of meeting the
> needs of the project without bogging the process down in the production
> of artifacts that don't add value. If every commit message was tied to a
> ticket with three pages of description, which fell into a roadmap with
> precisely adjusted dates, with perfectly synchronized code styles and
> unit tests for every method, but the resulting process encumbered the
> developers so much that we were only able to make half as much progress
> towards the development of new features, would that be a desirable
> outcome?


Balance is important; process will help here.

If there's one bug/dev database, that saves time.

If a commit is written in English, that saves time.

If the commits can reference bugs and enhancements, that saves time.

If the bugs and enhancements are well-described, then there's less
pressure for the commit to be so as well, and saves time, both because
we can all look at the original bug/enhancement, and because brevity
saves time for writers and readers. (A two-fer!)

If you can say "for the next ten commits, see commit XYZ/bug ABC,"
that saves time.

If a batch of commits can be labeled basically, "move along folks,
nothing to see here (from a testing/docs POV)," that saves time.

If documentation/tester folk are trained in how commits and trac
function, so they understand how to read them to write documentation,
that saves beaucoup time.

If there are good processes for testers/writers/etc to communicate
real bugs back to the project, that saves time.

I am sure if we worked at it, we could come up with a system so
cumbersome it would effectively consume 90% of the development effort.
But most of the stuff up there isn't complex or challenging. It's just
a commitment... to better commits.

-- 
-- 
| Karen G. Schneider
| Community Librarian
| Equinox Software Inc. "The Evergreen Experts"
| Toll-free: 1.877.Open.ILS (1.877.673.6457) x712
| kgs at esilibrary.com
| Web: http://www.esilibrary.com