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Start with a trivial improvement!

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Marcus Denker-4

Start with a trivial improvement!

One nice way to get in the mood of doing (and at the same time testing the system) is to start

with trivial improvements.

This is especially nice as a "starter" when you never contributed any change to Pharo.

And by trivial I mean *really* mean trivial:

-> a typo in a comment
-> remove a temp not accessed

-> clean out some trivial dead code
-> do a simplistic refactoring of a bad smell, even inside a single method
-> document something
-> structure bad stuff better so it is easier to replace later

Taken in itself, single changes like these have no influence, but:

-> they get you in a mood of doing.
-> they make you feel that Pharo is "owned" by you.
-> take 1000 of those trivialities and they *do* make a difference.
-> next time something bothers you, you will have the context of "I can just fix it".

The critic tools is one way of finding these places, another is to just note down every time

you see a triviality and later go through that list. The bug tracker can be source, too.

Marcus

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Sven Van Caekenberghe-2

Re: Start with a trivial improvement!

+100

On 10 Oct 2013, at 13:21, Marcus Denker <[hidden email]> wrote:

> One nice way to get in the mood of doing (and at the same time testing the system) is to start
> with trivial improvements.
>
> This is especially nice as a "starter" when you never contributed any change to Pharo.
>
> And by trivial I mean *really* mean trivial:
> -> a typo in a comment
> -> remove a temp not accessed
> -> clean out some trivial dead code
> -> do a simplistic refactoring of a bad smell, even inside a single method
> -> document something
> -> structure bad stuff better so it is easier to replace later
>
> Taken in itself, single changes like these have no influence, but:
>
> -> they get you in a mood of doing.
> -> they make you feel that Pharo is "owned" by you.
> -> take 1000 of those trivialities and they *do* make a difference.
> -> next time something bothers you, you will have the context of "I can just fix it".
>
> The critic tools is one way of finding these places, another is to just note down every time
> you see a triviality and later go through that list. The bug tracker can be source, too.
>
>
> <wtfm.jpg>
>
> Marcus

Tudor Girba-2

Re: Start with a trivial improvement!

Thank you, Marcus!

Could you post this on the Pharo blog?

Doru

On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 1:36 PM, Sven Van Caekenberghe <[hidden email]> wrote:

+100

On 10 Oct 2013, at 13:21, Marcus Denker <[hidden email]> wrote:

> One nice way to get in the mood of doing (and at the same time testing the system) is to start
> with trivial improvements.
>
> This is especially nice as a "starter" when you never contributed any change to Pharo.
>
> And by trivial I mean *really* mean trivial:
> -> a typo in a comment
> -> remove a temp not accessed
> -> clean out some trivial dead code
> -> do a simplistic refactoring of a bad smell, even inside a single method
> -> document something
> -> structure bad stuff better so it is easier to replace later
>
> Taken in itself, single changes like these have no influence, but:
>
> -> they get you in a mood of doing.
> -> they make you feel that Pharo is "owned" by you.
> -> take 1000 of those trivialities and they *do* make a difference.
> -> next time something bothers you, you will have the context of "I can just fix it".
>
> The critic tools is one way of finding these places, another is to just note down every time
> you see a triviality and later go through that list. The bug tracker can be source, too.
>
>

> <wtfm.jpg>
>
> Marcus

www.tudorgirba.com

"Every thing has its own flow"

Uko2

Re: Start with a trivial improvement!

On Oct 10, 2013, at 1:42 PM, Tudor Girba <[hidden email]> wrote:

Thank you, Marcus!

Could you post this on the Pharo blog?

And put a link to Camillo's guide on bug fixing, so enthusiasts will know how to contribute :)

Doru

On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 1:36 PM, Sven Van Caekenberghe <[hidden email]> wrote:

+100

On 10 Oct 2013, at 13:21, Marcus Denker <[hidden email]> wrote:

> One nice way to get in the mood of doing (and at the same time testing the system) is to start
> with trivial improvements.
>
> This is especially nice as a "starter" when you never contributed any change to Pharo.
>
> And by trivial I mean *really* mean trivial:
> -> a typo in a comment
> -> remove a temp not accessed
> -> clean out some trivial dead code
> -> do a simplistic refactoring of a bad smell, even inside a single method
> -> document something
> -> structure bad stuff better so it is easier to replace later
>
> Taken in itself, single changes like these have no influence, but:
>
> -> they get you in a mood of doing.
> -> they make you feel that Pharo is "owned" by you.
> -> take 1000 of those trivialities and they *do* make a difference.
> -> next time something bothers you, you will have the context of "I can just fix it".
>
> The critic tools is one way of finding these places, another is to just note down every time
> you see a triviality and later go through that list. The bug tracker can be source, too.
>
>

> <wtfm.jpg>
>
> Marcus

--
www.tudorgirba.com

"Every thing has its own flow"

Marcus Denker-4

Re: [Pharo-dev] Start with a trivial improvement!

In reply to this post by Tudor Girba-2

On Oct 10, 2013, at 1:43 PM, Tudor Girba <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Thank you, Marcus!
>
> Could you post this on the Pharo blog?
>

Good idea, yes, I will do that.

Marcus

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Stéphane Ducasse

Re: [Pharo-dev] Start with a trivial improvement!

In reply to this post by Tudor Girba-2

good idea

yes for the blog entry

On Oct 10, 2013, at 1:42 PM, Tudor Girba <[hidden email]> wrote:

Thank you, Marcus!

Could you post this on the Pharo blog?

Doru

On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 1:36 PM, Sven Van Caekenberghe <[hidden email]> wrote:

+100

On 10 Oct 2013, at 13:21, Marcus Denker <[hidden email]> wrote:

> One nice way to get in the mood of doing (and at the same time testing the system) is to start
> with trivial improvements.
>
> This is especially nice as a "starter" when you never contributed any change to Pharo.
>
> And by trivial I mean *really* mean trivial:
> -> a typo in a comment
> -> remove a temp not accessed
> -> clean out some trivial dead code
> -> do a simplistic refactoring of a bad smell, even inside a single method
> -> document something
> -> structure bad stuff better so it is easier to replace later
>
> Taken in itself, single changes like these have no influence, but:
>
> -> they get you in a mood of doing.
> -> they make you feel that Pharo is "owned" by you.
> -> take 1000 of those trivialities and they *do* make a difference.
> -> next time something bothers you, you will have the context of "I can just fix it".
>
> The critic tools is one way of finding these places, another is to just note down every time
> you see a triviality and later go through that list. The bug tracker can be source, too.
>
>

> <wtfm.jpg>
>
> Marcus

--
www.tudorgirba.com

"Every thing has its own flow"