Re: FAT in the news...

At 04:56 PM 10/31/02 -0600, you wrote:
>Jos'h Fuller wrote:
> >
> > [ SNIP ]
> >
> > I'd love something that described (in detail, with code) something really
> > big like the Saudi Arabian airport project or the Saturn plant
> > environmental system. It seems that as you go over a certain size, the
> > techniques for managing your code change. It would be neat to see how
> > scaling problems are solved (new vocabulary wordlists (namespaces), module
> > loading, networking and so on).
> >
>
>I wonder. Are you asking the "right question"?
>
>As can be verified by any number of people on this list, I am NOT an
>expert Forth programmer. However as a ( technician / lab tech /
>engineering tech / engineering aide / jr. engineer / inspector / ....
>) I have observed a number of projects of various sizes.
>
>I do not think problems change in kind as a function of project size.
>
>The problems created by poor choices can be magnified multiple times
>as project scale increases.

Project management issues certainly arise in big projects, although they
don't differ significantly when Forth is involved, except that the team
doesn't have to be as big (because everyone is more productive) and
the members are going to move fast. The latter means you need good
coordination, because if someone is going off in the wrong direction
he/she will go farther faster before you can catch it!

Basically, the objective is to make work assignments that overlap
as little as possible, and make sure the interfaces are well-defined.
Team members need to agree on things like naming conventions,
THROW code assignments, etc. And of course, it's essential that
the group standardize coding styles, because it will make it much
easier for everyone to read & use everyone else's code.

There are various source management tools and techniques around
that work as well for Forth as any other language.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

==================================================
Elizabeth D. Rather (US & Canada) 800-55-FORTH
FORTH Inc. +1 310-491-3356
5155 W. Rosecrans Ave. #1018 Fax: +1 310-978-9454
Hawthorne, CA 90250
http://www.forth.com

"Forth-based products and Services for real-time
applications since 1973."
==================================================

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Received on Thu Oct 31 2002 - 15:20:40 PST