Work Flow for Solo Developers and Small Teams

Work Flow for
Solo Developers and Small Teams

@emmajanedotnet
emma@emmajane.net

Today
1. Developer’s Environment
(The Command Line)
2. Version Control Basics
3. Developer Tools for Larger Teams

The command line is used in many free,
online resources.

GUIs reveal complexity in different ways.

SourceTree, OSX

SmartGit, cross-platform

In the Beginning,
Was the Command Line
A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of
interaction with a computer program where the user
(or client) issues commands to a program in the form
of successive lines of text (command lines).
The command-line interface evolved from a form of
dialog once conducted by humans over teleprinter
machines, in which human operators remotely
exchanged information, usually one line of text at a
time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command-line_interface

Commands Affect Your Environment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)

Commands Affect Your Environment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRhbcDzbGSU

Command Line Interface

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_Prompt

define:prompt
a transitive verb meaning To move to action.

? forward 90
> open mailbox

At the command line, you are constantly being
asked by the computer, “What action would you like
to take next?”

Commands
(verb)
● One-word actions:
– sing
– jump
– look
● One-word commands:
– help
– exit
– history

Commands With Parameters
(verb noun)
● An action, and a direct object:
– take book
– read pamphlet
– open window
● Commands with parameters:
– cd /var/www
– man <command_name>
– mv file_current_name.jpg file_new_name.jpg

Commands With Modifiers + Parameters
(verb adjective noun)
● Refining the request:
– go down stairs
– take blue pill
– open left door
● Adding a flag/switch/modifier:
– mkdir -p parent_directory/sub-directory
– tar xvf file_to_extract.tar.gz
– ls -lh

Ten Commands I Use All the Time
ls list files
cd change the current directory
mv move a file to a new location (and/or rename)
cp copy a file
pwd print working directory (answers: where am I?)
rm remove file
clear refresh the screen
man read the manual page for a specific command
tar work with packages of files
chmod change the “mode” (aka permissions) of a file or directory

“All” The Commands
http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/browse
This site includes a “rating” function.

Learning the CLI tools
makes your knowledge portable.
● OSX and Linux both use the same flavour of
command line environment (“the shell”).
● Not all Web server applications have a graphical
administrative interface, so learning to use the
command line allows you to run server
applications in your local developer environment.
● Sequences of commands can be captured as
scripts, which you can run on any compatible
machine without having to point-and-click.

Benefits of Version Control
● Backup and restore
●
Syncronization across multiple systems
●
Short-term undo to test implications
● Long-term undo to reverse bugs
● Track changes to see why/how software evolved
● Track ownership to give ‘credit’ to change makers
● Sandboxing our code to test changes without
affecting others

There is no excuse
for not having version control.

The cheapest way to get version control is to use an
automated backup system, like Dropbox, for your
code.

Terminology
●
Repository. The database of changes to your files.
●
Server. The computer storing the repository.
●
Client. The computer connecting to the repository.
●
Working copy. Your local copy, where changes are
made.
●
Trunk (or “main”). The current, primary source for
unchanged code.
●
Head. The latest revision in the repository.

Basic Actions
●
Add. Put a file into the repo.
●
Revision. Checks what version a file is on.
●
Check out. Download files from the main repository.
●
Check in. Upload changed files to the main repository.
●
Changelog. A list of changes made to a file since it was
created.
●
Update/sync. Synchronize your files with the ones from
the main repository.
●
Revert. Throw away your local changes and reload the
latest version from the repository.

Workflow: The Solo Developer

Create project Add files Do your work Upload files

Do more work

define:work
Basic Check-ins

Main Trunk

Milk Milk Milk Milk
Eggs Eggs Eggs
Juice Soup

r1 r2 r3 r4

Diffs Show the Difference
Between Two Versions of a Project

Main Trunk

Milk Milk Milk Milk
Eggs Eggs - Juice Eggs
+ Eggs + Juice
Juice + Soup Soup

r1 r2 r3 r4

define:work
Tagging

James’s Final Emma’s Groceries
Grocery List Additions Purchased

Main Trunk

Milk Milk Milk
Eggs Eggs Eggs
Soup Soup Soup
Bread Bread
M&Ms
r4 r7 r9

define:work Milk
Branching Eggs
Soup
Bread
St o re M&Ms r9
Ca ndy

Main Trunk

Milk Milk
Eggs Eggs
Soup Soup
Bread

r4 r7

Workflow: Read-only Projects
“Fork Me” on GitHub
Improved

yF o rk version of
M project
ch)
(bran

Random Project on the Internet

Workflow: Partner

1. James starts a grocery list 2. Emma already had a grocery list started.
She asks to see James’s list.

3. James remembers a couple more items. 4. Emma adds a few things from her list.

5. The grocery lists are combined and James goes shopping.

Collaborative Actions
●
Branch. Create a separate copy of a repository for personal use.
●
Diff/change/delta. Identifies the differences between two
versions of a file.
●
Merge/patch. Apply the changes from one version of a file, to
another.
●
Conflict. When two versions of a file have proposed changes at
the same place.
●
Resolve. Deciding which version of conflicting changes should
be applied, and which should be discarded.

Merging Milk
Eggs + M&Ms Milk
Soup Eggs
Soup
M&Ms

Main Trunk (James’s List)

Milk Milk Milk
Eggs Eggs Eggs
+ Bread + M&Ms
Soup Soup Soup
Bread Bread
M&Ms

Resolving Conflicts
Milk + M&Ms
Milk
Eggs
Eggs
Soup
Soup
M&Ms

Main Trunk (James’s List)

Milk Milk Milk
Eggs + Bread Eggs Eggs
+ M&Ms
Soup - Soup Bread Bread
+ Bread M&Ms

Sample Project

http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-visual-guide-to-version-control/

Workflow: Centralized
no local commits

checko
ut

it
comm

Workflow:
Decentralized with a shared mainline

clone (
or ) pull
commit

push

commit

Developer Tools for Larger Teams

Complicated problems are complicated.
● Bigger code base = more contributors ->
formalized code review process
● Bigger projects = more stakeholders ->
project management
● Bigger projects = more infrastructure ->
devops

Formal Code Review Process
● Code should never be released into the wild
without having a second set of eyes on it.
● It’s very easy to overengineer your workflow
process.
● Make sure you do what’s right, not what’s easy,
for your team.

Workflow:
Decentralized with human gatekeeper

clone

commit

s)
d ate
(fo r up
pull
s
ng e
e cha
mer g

reject changes
request merge
commit

Workflow:
Decentralized with automated gatekeeper

clone

commit
view

s)
ate
request re

d
(fo r up
pull

sh
pu

merge request
reject failed patches
commit

Project Management
● software
– Trac, Basecamp, JIRA, (etc, etc)
● philosophies
– Waterfall, Agile (XP, Scrum, Kanban)

* Driven Development
● Test-driven development (TDD)
Write an (initially failing) automated test case that defines a
desired improvement or new function, then produces the minimum
amount of code to pass that test, and finally refactors the new
code to acceptable standards.
● Behaviour-driven development (BDD)
Behaviour-driven development specifies that tests of any unit of
software should be specified in terms of the desired behaviour of
the unit.

DevOps
Developers + Operations (System Administrators)

●
Culture
●
Automation
●
Measurement
●
Sharing

DevOps Tools
● Deployment automation
– fai, kickstart, preseed, cobbler
● Configuration management
– puppet, chef, cfengine, bcfg2
● Build automation
– jenkins, hudson, maven, ant, cruisecontrol

Start Today, Refine Later Today.
● Don’t try to change everything at once.
●
Look for easy things to change and implement
little bits at a time.
● Sometimes you need to have short term
inefficiencies (learning a new tool) to gain long
term productivity.
● Don’t let the enemy of progress be perfection.

Let’s Keep In Touch
● emma@designtotheme.com
●
@emmajanedotnet

Credits
● Type face:
– Neutra Text by House Industries.
● Icons:
– “Gartoon” icon theme pack for GNOME from
http://art.gnome.org/themes/icon
– http://openclipart.org/user-detail/yyycatch
●
Diagram ideas:
– http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-visual-guide-to-version-control/
– http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/Workflows

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