Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Workbench Intro -- The Software Development Use Case

(This is a copy of the wiki page that you might know from sf.net)

What's a workbench?


The workbench is a managed directory in your filesystem that (very much like a VCS) has its own configuration and state.

It can be equipped with source code repositories which can be iterated, inspected and generally worked with.

A workbench can also be equipped with further tools in addition to what the core provides. Tools are scripts that can be executed as workbench subcommands and they have access to the extensive scripting library and facilities provided by the workbench (configuration, project info, repository info, VCS abstraction, Build system abstraction, notification, and more).

Tools can have several origins. The core workbench provides tools for the most basic tasks, like updating repositories, or accessing the configuration. Projects can provide tools, users can write tools, and tools can be downloaded from an online Tool-Shed.

A workbench is able to combine multiple projects, and projects can continuously provide all sorts of workbench customizations.

A workbench instance provides a coherent place to work with one or more projects while tedious repetitive tasks are automated.

There is an exploratory implementation that can give you a feel how it could work, and get your creativity started about the multitude of possibilities a full workbench implementation would enable.



Advantages


Automate common development related activities

Have all the advantages of automation: Less human error; less manual repetition of tedious tasks; pace; more rewarding situations per day; more time for actual development tasks; more quality because of automated QA-procedures; etc

Allow projects to easily distribute information and workflows to recipients

Projects can push project-info, tools, tasks, extensions (VCS, BS), configuration down to developers, users, testers, technophiles. It is easy for projects to define, for example, quality standards by providing the configuration for tools that check the code.

Have a simplified and coherent view of a project

The workbench bundles and organizes all sorts of project data. That helps managing the complexities of a project a lot. Similar to how well structured code can be better understood, having a good structural foundation for a project will facilitate working with it.

Combine projects to work on upcoming features

If one project works on new features that another project would like to exploit before the final release, those projects could be combined into one workbench.

Remove high project involvement barriers and attract lots of aspiring developers

Interested developers (e.g. students) come out of curiosity and it is easy for them to get fully involved and to contribute back. In particular, IDE initiation tools would allow to get from the temptation to look at a project to actual code browsing and writing within seconds.

Extensive customization opportunities

The resources provided by projects will allow even inexperienced developers to kick-start into the development process. But users that invest a bit time to get to know the workbench facilities can unleash all the powers of the workbench and create new workflows.

It's easy to write own tools and it's easy to write them good

From command aliases and small shell scripts, to full-fledged workbench tools. If you do a thing a second time, and it's more than a single step, you can do something about it. The Workbench will provide the facilities (in particular workbench-local configuration and data storage) that will encourage you to write reusable tools.

Use familiar tools across projects

Get rid of rigid scripts that work for one project only. That does not help projects or aspiring contributors. There are many procedures that are common to every project (e.g. building, testing, contributing back). The workbench will make decent abstraction of those procedures possible.

Get feedback and query workbench state

Feedback and query tools are important to stay informed about the state of a workbench. Install handlers for events happening in a workbench. Specify if you want transient OSD notifications and/or persistent notification (issue tracking) for some events. Configure your prompt to show the most important information or use desktop apps (similar to a system monitor widget) to stay informed.

Define repeatable tasks

It will be possible to create a description of a task (like build or analysis) and have that task executed in a lightweight slave workbench that will be created according to the task description. Therefore long running tasks will not block the master workbench, and the slave workbench will be an independent area where auditing and similar procedures can take place after the task finishes.

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