Re: Porting for extensibility and maintainability (was Re: larger issue (Re: Linux install misses Tk))

[Roberto Quijalvo <Bert.Quijalvo@East>]

I would think that developing a Java version would take a while, since
I presume we all have something else that we're being paid to do.

There's plenty of time, and plenty of room for 2 versions of the product.
I don't wish to drive a wedge into the group either.  

I'm interested in furthering the support of the palmPilot, making tools that
are more useful for me (and others),  getting more experience with Java, and 
learning more about the internals of the palmPilot.

I'm sure anyone who contributes to the project would share like interests.

Bert

> From: Platibus <platibus@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> To: Ken Rossman - NYC SE <rossman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Bert.Quijalvo@East, pilotmgr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Porting for extensibility and maintainability (was Re: larger issue (Re: Linux install misses Tk))
> 
> I'd rather take a risk driven approach. Splitting up the camp is one of them,
> so let's try and avoid that by not doing anything rash.
> 
> 1) If at all, a port would have to be at least as functional as the current
> version.
> 2) Anyone who's using pilotmanager now must be able to use the port as well.
> 3) Dependencies to off-the-shelf components must be less than in the current
> product.
> 4) Performance must be at least comparable.
> 
> Anything short of that is not worth doing, in my opinion and may even be
> detrimental, because it just adds complexity instead of making pilotmanager
> simpler. I think it may be possible to meet those criteria, in which case I
> think we have gained extensibility with reusable Java components.
> 
> And, no, I wouldn't go top down. The design exists, it's embedded in the
> current system, and there are people who understand it. It just needs to be
> documented. That can be done and I don't consider this to be a high risk item.
> Current risks are:
> - a Java implementation may be too slow
> - Perl programmers might not feel at home
> - current conduits may not be portable
> 
> 
> I know it's not popular to talk about risks. It's much more pleasant to talk
> about the things we *can* do than about the things we can't. So please add to
> this list of risks and then we can prioritize them and address them in order.
> 
> Thomas
> 
> Ken Rossman - NYC SE wrote:
> 
> > > I agree with Ken.
> > >
> > > We can discuss this thing to death.
> > >
> > > I'm willing to contribute!
> >
> > Best thing to do first, probably would be to pick a project manager of
> > sorts.  Need to do some top-level designing first (good OO design
> > begins with heavy up-front planning).  Get the top-level interfaces all
> > worked out, and spec-ed out, and everything else (writing of additional
> > conduits and other utility objects (beans?) should fall right out.
> >
> > (sorry to say, I'm certainly not the guy for that job, though I'd like to
> > be able to contribute some small stuff to a project such as this later)
> >
> > Ken Rossman, NYC SE           212-558-9182  ||  212-558-9329 (FAX)
> > Sun Microsystems              Email: Ken.Rossman@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> > One New York Plaza, 35th Fl.  SUN Internal: http://noho.East/~rossman
> > New York, NY 10004            INTERNET: http://www.columbia.edu/~rossman
> >
> > P.S. -- I really like the Perl version (and I use it), and I'm not
> > interested in shoving it aside in any way, shape, or form.  I just think a
> > group Java project like this might be fun to do, even if it is redundant.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ***********************************************************
> > *             This is a public mailing list!              *
> > * Please do not publish Sun proprietary information here! *
> > *        -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -         *
> > *             http://www.moshpit.org/pilotmgr             *
> > ***********************************************************
> 
> 

    Bert

-------------------------------------------------------------
Bert Quijalvo                          Sun Microsystems, Inc.
			                Fort Lauderdale, FL
Bert.Quijalvo@xxxxxxxxxxxx             954-797-5918  (x29918)
-------------------------------------------------------------



------------------------------------------------------------------------
***********************************************************
*             This is a public mailing list!              *
* Please do not publish Sun proprietary information here! *
*        -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -         *
*             http://www.moshpit.org/pilotmgr             *
***********************************************************