Re: SourceNav release ...

[Mo DeJong <supermo@bayarea.net>]

On Fri, 18 Jan 2002 23:55:53 +0200
"Eray Ozkural (exa)" <erayo@cs.bilkent.edu.tr> wrote:

...

> > I think the right solution is to turn the SN backend into a library. Even
> > if you don't reuse the code, the ideas that are there have years of effort
> > behind them and they do work. It should make use of Berkeley DB to store
> > symbols but through an API so that people can swap out other database
> > layers if they want to. It should also provide a nice two phase parse and
> > dump into symbol DB sequence that is easily inspected. Just figuring out
> > what and where the problem with a parser is can be the most difficult part
> > of fixing a problem. Also, it is absolutely critical that a well defined
> > regression test framework is developed as part of the library.
> 
> I've looked at the code more closely now. I have some involvement with the 
> code luckily, and it seems pretty clean to me. In particular I like the 
> Berkeley DB design since that is the best solution to persistence on a GNU 
> system. Abstracting the API is a good thing, but as a replacement I can't 
> spot any good db code. It looks like the symbol extraction process has also 
> been generalized a bit, so it gives us a framework to add support for new 
> languages.

There are always alternatives in the DB arena. Abstracting the DB interface
so that it does not strictly rely on Berkeley DB was all I meant. Attempting to
rewrite working code to make the DB layer more generic is about as much
fun as poking yourself in the eye (the SN code is guilty of this).

> > Of course, the tricky part is how to move forward. If you just make a KDE
> > version of Source-Navigator then it will only be useful to KDE folk. There
> > are plenty of other development tools that could really make use of this
> > functionality if it was available in an well documented and easy to use
> > library format. The larger the user base, the more bugs will get worked
> > out. User base is important since parsers are so bug prone. This project is
> > something I was thinking about working on, but it is quite a bit of work
> > and will require more than one developer.
> >
> 
> I can volunteer for this project. Here is my plan:
>
> 1) Refactor sourcenav such that it can be built/used as a standalone 
> programming-tool library. I'va already commenced work in this area. It 
> doesn't seem to be hard.
> 
> 2) Provide a generic C++ library that wraps C API.
>
> 3) A separate "kodenavigator" library that provides GUI components to 
> sourcenav functions.
> 
> How does that sound?

Sounds good, as long as #3 (or any other GUI front end) is left outside the scope
of the project. I think a key to success will be minimizing external dependencies
so that code can easily be incorporated into other projects. Then there is the
old C vs C++ debate and the discussion of which lame/broken compilers
should be supported.

I would be very interested in helping you get this project going. My initial focus
would be on a regression test suite and a Java parser. What comes next is
the age old question of labels and resources. This project will need a name and
a home. Sourceforge has some great features, but the mailing list archives
are really lame. I have always been impressed by the folks that run sourceware
(aka sources.redhat.com), but I don't know if it is the best place for such a
project.

reactions?
Mo