Refactoring squeak (version for squeak.org)

Michael van der Gulik squeakml at gulik.co.nz
Sun Jul 2 09:39:15 UTC 2006


Comments below. This is also BCC'ed to the web team.

stéphane ducasse wrote:
> If you want to increase the chance that your fixes get attention here  
> are some tricks.
> 
>     - write tests to show that you do not break the system
>     - do not refactor for the sake of it
>     - use deprecation to support users of the old code
>     - ask people for feedback and review
>     - and yes having a better system is important (even if this is  
> difficult and may break some existing code)
> 
> Stef
> 
> On 30 juin 06, at 10:34, Damien Cassou wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>>
>> sometimes when I dive into Squeak source code, I would like to  
>> refactor some piece of code that can be enhanced. Does someone care  
>> to have better source code in Squeak ? Where is the best place to  
>> post the enhancements ? To post new tests ? Often, it will be just  
>> one line or two, do I need to write bug reports in mantis ? Will  
>> somebody have a look at this ?

Would authoritive-sounding people comment on the following as a page on 
the official Squeak website:

Contributing (subcategory under "Community").
----------------------


Contributing small amounts of code
-------------------------------------

Bug reports and small code contributions can be either added to the 
*Mantis* bug reporting system, or to the *Squeak mailing list*. Squeak 
developers (which, after a contribution, will include you!) use the 
Mantis system to keep track of small changes and to eventually merge 
them into Squeak.

Remember that Squeak is developed by volunteers so that your 
contribution of code or a bug report may or may not get attention. In 
order to increase the chances that your bug or code contribution 
receives attention, try the following:

* Ensure that your code is submitted to the relevant *Team*. Each team 
has their own preferences as to the preferred format of that code 
(Monticello / Change sets).

* Write tests that verify that your code does not break the current 
Squeak system.

* Contribute changes that keep as much backwards compatibility as possible.

* [What's deprecation???]


Contributing large amounts of code
------------------------------------------

If you want to contribute a significant amount of code, your project can 
be published using *SqueakMap*. If your code is of a different nature, 
as on the *Squeak mailing list*.

You can start your own mailing list for your project using the *Squeak 
foundation mailing lists server*.

*SqueakSource* can be used to store a repository of your code. [and a 
wiki?].


Filing bug reports
---------------------

Bug reports should be submitted to the *Mantis bug reported system*.

In order to aid others in fixing your bug, try the following:

* Spend at least a non-trivial amount of time tracking down the bug 
yourself.

* In your bug report, include the nature of the bug and good 
instructions on how to reproduce that bug.

* If you have written a test to reproduce the buggy behaviour, include 
that as an attachment to your bug report.





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