Sometimes Test-Driven Development Doesn\t Work, and seven other revelations I had during the Summer of Code
After having taken a brief sabbatical from most things SwingX and the last code of the GSoC checked in, I thought it a good time to reflect on some things:
1. Sometimes Test-Driven Development Doesn't Work.
During the sabbatical, I decided to revist the pdf builder I started to look at when I was just starting the Summer of Code. It was viable idea and deserved to be finished, I thought. As one of those developers that tries to be above board and code using standards and best practices, I realize that sometimes one must be courageous enough to say, this can't really be unit tested and there is nothing I can do about it. The PDFBuilder is one of those cases. iText doesn't seem to have been written with unit testing in mind and that's fine. Testing could be strapped on by it would be flaky and feeble and not really worth the trouble. Luckily, there is a cookbook of sorts that I've been using to make sure my builder generates the correct output.
2. The SoC is really long...
I've worked on other projects for longer than the SoC period but it different when it's your concept that is out there for public consumption. And long as hell. Starting a little early made it so I could peak earlier and IMHO higher but it affected recovery as well. And there's always the worry to do a good job so people don't look at the code and say WTF?
3. Cela m'énerve* to hear people say "codes" or "the codes" to refer to computer code.
This often happened when trying to explain to non-geeks what I was doing.
4. If Google sends you a check via Western Union, you should get and cash it immediately.
I always did so but there were many tales of woe from fellow SoCers who waited until day 30 after payment to pick up payments. [Western union payments expire after 30 days.] This goes for any deadline from Google, it's better to do it now than wait.
5. Though it's Google and you think it's awesome, most people don't care and just shrug.
Some people will look at you like you smoke something when you try to explain the concept of open source to them.
6. Murphy's Law extends to BarCamp presentations.
Nuff said.
7. We may never know what the special message was that Karl Fogel put in one of the copies of "Producing Open Source Software."
Google sent all participants signed print copies of the book. There is supposedly a special message in one of the copies.
8. Saying it would be "groovy" to do whatever action in Groovy is NOT groovy.
"Il m'énerve" translates to "It irritates me" or "It gets on my nerves"
groovy-pdf is hosted at Google Code. It is in extreme alpha right now.