[Insight-developers] Staged but not merged

[Marcus D. Hanwell]

On Saturday 16 October 2010 16:13:13 Sean McBride wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:30:57 -0400, Bill Lorensen said:
> >Many of us don't really understand what is going on in detail. But, we
> >know how to follow instructions. We need good instructions.
> >
> >Here is the current situation...
> >
> >Just a few of us are on the bleeding edge. We are your guinea pigs. We
> >have a gut feeling that git and gerrit are the way to go. We are also
> >process geeks. Some of us are still algorithm developers or do real
> >research. But we recognize that these software engineering processes
> >are valuable.
> >
> >Soon, many folks with different skills and interests will be
> >contributing to ITK. Some of them will be more focussed on algorithms
> >and research. If they become frustrated with our processes we will
> >have real problems. These folks will not be able to meet their
> >deliverables for their ITK contracts. And  the process could be the
> >problem (excuse).
> 
> I have to say, that's a pretty good summary of how I feel. :)
> 
> I don't contribute to ITK much, and I'm new to git, but I've been
> following these discussion and I have the impression that it's all
> pretty complicated.  I do understand, at a high level, the advantages
> git brings, but the learning curve seems brutal.  I'm avoiding the
> bleeding edge on this one, waiting for the the instructions, wiki, and
> kinks to get worked out.

Perhaps this page will help a little, it is intended to provide a quick start 
guide for new developers who just want to get up and running. It would be good 
to perhaps expand on some of the details in other linked articles.

http://www.itk.org/Wiki/ITK/Git/Simple

I wrote similar guides for Titan, VTK and ParaView. I certainly share your 
concerns about complexity. We did not just switch version control systems, but 
took the opportunity to improve the way we develop software at quite a 
fundamental level.

This is why some of the extra complication is present, to enable us to develop 
better software and automate as much of the testing as possible. With feedback 
from the community I want to ensure that the process is as simple as possible, 
and that the right documentation is available for new and experienced 
developers.

Marcus
-- 
Marcus D. Hanwell, Ph.D.
R&D Engineer, Kitware Inc.
(518) 881-4937