Re: bug tracking

[Lloyd Lim <lim@bmrc.berkeley.edu>]

>If I recall, some of the code used 'XXX' as a convention to signal "to be
>further developed", "need more functionality" or "this code needs
>rewriting"... and that is quite different from "THERE'S A BUG HERE THAT
>NEEDS FIXING."

I'm aware of the different meanings and, in a bug/task tracking database,
we would no doubt have different categories for filing things.

For a simple code marker though, I think it's easier just to use
one standard marker.  And when you get down to it, "needs further
development", "needs more functionality", or "needs rewriting" are
all basically saying "FIXME".

>So, rather than contemplating the prospect of fixing 1,648 BUGS in MASH,
>why not generalize this 'inline comment' convention slightly to try to
>categorize the possible reasons that a particular code segment needs
>attention -- though, I realize doing that proactively is nearly
>impossible?

We'll try to do this in our bug/task tracking database whenever
we implement that.  I'm sure we'll only enter the more notable
problem areas in the database.

I didn't fully automate the XXX -> FIXME process when I changed it,
because I wanted to see where the XXXs were.  In many cases, it's
not obvious what the XXX was for.

>What conventions do the other Open Source projects use?

Don't know.

How about this for a Mash convention:  If anyone fixes a FIXME,
then I will give them $1.  :)

Lloyd