RE: VisualAge for Java

Joe.

There is a REAL model for management of classes.
It DOES allow for concurrent access.
It also allows, if needed, for split thread development where necessary.
Source control tools only go so far in managing the development process.
You have to understand fully the management model to use the tool
correctly.
VisualAge Enterprise edition or other 3rd party tools that can integrate
like RCS etc do require developers to understand the management model to
use them successfully.

The VisualAge Enteprise model DOES support class ownership, package
ownership and project ownership, separately if needed.  It also supports
collaborative development within that context...

Jim Mason


Message text written by INTERNET:JAVA400-L@midrange.com
>
RE: VisualAge for JavaIn my opinion, the idea of two people working on the
same class is in itself flawed. The whole idea of a class is for it to be a
small, self-contained piece of code whose inner workings are controlled and
owned by a single person. Of course, someone else should understand it, in
order to avoid the "hit by a bus" situation, but the idea of two people
independently modifying the same class at the same time is, to my thinking,
wrong for a number of reasons:

1. No class should be big enough to require that two people make
simultaneous changes. Instead, all requirements should be given to the
class's owner, who should implement them. Simultaneous modifications
without
central management is a recipe for disaster in any software project.

2. A class may have side effects within it that one programmer knows and
the
other doesn't; this is the nature of object-oriented programming. No user
of
the class cares about the side effects, because their only contact to the
class is thorugh the interface, but anybody actually changing the code may
not know the ramifications and break something.

3. Unless there is a standard test suite that one can run a class through
to
ensure that it is not broken, nobody should change someone else's class.
Since objects have state, you must test the various states, and any class
large enough to require multiple programmers is going to have many, many
possible states.

People who insist on running distributed development projects using project
management techniques that made sense for monolithic green-screen
programming are missing the point - object-oriented, dsitributed
development
is a completely different environment than I grew up with in the
traditional
midrange platform.

Joe

  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-java400-l@midrange.com
[mailto:owner-java400-l@midrange.com]On
Behalf Of Daniel Magid
  Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 8:07 PM
  To: JAVA400-L@midrange.com
  Subject: RE: VisualAge for Java


  Steve,

  I am with Aldon Computer Group and our new Affiniti SCM tool provides
support for managing multiple programmers working on the same code
simultaneously. It also supports the SCCI standard so developers can
perform
checkouts and promotes from directly within the VisualAge IDE.  Using the
Affiniti product, you can easily see who else is working on the source and
it will prevent one developer from overlaying another's work.  When the
time
comes, it has an integrated compare and merge tool for merging the versions
together.  An added advantage is it interfaces with our AS/400 Change
Management System so you can manage your standard AS/400 (RPG, COBOL, DDS,
CL, etc.) and your JAVA, HTML, VB, etc. from the same user interface.  If
you would like more info, visit our website at www.aldon.com.

  Dan Magid

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Eric Merritt [mailto:cyberlync@yahoo.com]
  Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 7:22 AM
  To: JAVA400-L@midrange.com
  Subject: Re: VisualAge for Java



  Steve,

    Professional edition of VisualAge 3.5 supports the
  use an external version control system, i.e.
  SourceSafe, rational etc, basically anything that
  supports SCCM. These can be integrated directly into
  the IDE with no problem.

  Now as to the Enterprise version of change management,
  stay away from it. I have never seen a more ill
  thought out change management process then this one
  that IBM has produced. Don't get me wrong I like
  collective control of source etc. But IBM's solution
  just invites problems; in the end it ends up being a
  very manual process for a medium to large team.

  I say this because there is no way to tell if some one
  is editing the code, so if you edit the same code you
  now have to versions of that code that are slightly
  different. These then need to be manually merged, but
  they cannot be merged unless someone realizes that
  there is a conflict. This is just asking for trouble.

  Jim used the term Dynamic Change Management; a more
  accurate term is Concurrent Change Management. This
  idea has been around for some time but it has never
  caught on largely because, I think, the basic premise
  is flawed. Anyway just my 2c.

  --- Steve Raisor <sraisor@earthlink.net> wrote:
  > I have a quick question for anyone familiar with
  > VisualAge for Java.  Until now, I have always used a
  > simple text editor with a compile option for my Java
  > editing.  I have tried several IDE's lately and like
  > VisualAge.  However, I have a question...is it
  > possible (without buying the enterprise edition) to
  > have two people work on the same set of source?
  > Hope this isn't a silly question and I look forward
  > to your answers!
  >
  > Steve Raisor
  >
  >



  =====
  Eric Merritt
  Information Systems Consultant
  McCormack & Associates, Inc.
  Rock Hill, South Carolina
  (V) 803-327-3358 X 225
  eric@mccinc.com
  http://www.mccinc.com/

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Subject: RE: VisualAge for Java
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