Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Version Control Systems and You
Everyone knows these days that it's important to have some sort of version control system while working on a project. The big question is, which one do you want to use? I've used my fair share of them and though that I'd dole out my opinion.
CVS
Pretty much the originator. I used it in a Linux command-line environment and I loved every bit of it. The diff is great, it's pretty much seamless as far as editing goes, and it handles conflicts pretty well. It was indeed command-line based, but you know what, it worked fine that way.
Perforce
Probably one of my least favorites. Adding, removing, and moving files around is a major nightmare, the commands are far from clear-cut and the interface is pitiful. It does however have a decent diff tool, and it handles conflicts decently.
SVN (Subversion)
This is pretty much a souped-up version of CVS. In that regard it was pretty good. The only problem I had is with it's diff tool that I ended up replacing with WinDiff. If you're using windows, this is probably the optimal solution for you.
CM Synergy
It may be cross platform, but I've had nothing but trouble with this one. The diff is better than nothing, but it's still not great. The commands are confusing to say the least, but the history viewer is excellent. Its handling of conflicts is a bit iffy, but not that bad overall. I'd still rather have CVS or SVN.
Copying Folders
If you're doing this, who are you kidding? Sure it works, and sure it might be great for some smaller projects, but it would just be so much easier for you to use a decent version control system. Mind you, there's still a good case for copying your version-control database to a backup drive, much the same way as you'd copy a folder to a backup drive.
If you're not using any sort of version control, ask yourself this, what happens when you need to re-write a major part of the program? What happens if you need to get someone else to work on the project at the same time as you? If you absolutely can't afford to set anything up, at least copy your folders to a gmail drive or something like that. Just don't tempt fate, it's not worth it.
CVS
Pretty much the originator. I used it in a Linux command-line environment and I loved every bit of it. The diff is great, it's pretty much seamless as far as editing goes, and it handles conflicts pretty well. It was indeed command-line based, but you know what, it worked fine that way.
Perforce
Probably one of my least favorites. Adding, removing, and moving files around is a major nightmare, the commands are far from clear-cut and the interface is pitiful. It does however have a decent diff tool, and it handles conflicts decently.
SVN (Subversion)
This is pretty much a souped-up version of CVS. In that regard it was pretty good. The only problem I had is with it's diff tool that I ended up replacing with WinDiff. If you're using windows, this is probably the optimal solution for you.
CM Synergy
It may be cross platform, but I've had nothing but trouble with this one. The diff is better than nothing, but it's still not great. The commands are confusing to say the least, but the history viewer is excellent. Its handling of conflicts is a bit iffy, but not that bad overall. I'd still rather have CVS or SVN.
Copying Folders
If you're doing this, who are you kidding? Sure it works, and sure it might be great for some smaller projects, but it would just be so much easier for you to use a decent version control system. Mind you, there's still a good case for copying your version-control database to a backup drive, much the same way as you'd copy a folder to a backup drive.
If you're not using any sort of version control, ask yourself this, what happens when you need to re-write a major part of the program? What happens if you need to get someone else to work on the project at the same time as you? If you absolutely can't afford to set anything up, at least copy your folders to a gmail drive or something like that. Just don't tempt fate, it's not worth it.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Light Morals
Should I feel bad that I'm lying to my current coop placement saying that I'm going for an interview on friday when in fact I'm going rock climbing? Part of me says I should feel bad about this, but most of me says "who cares, it's not like you're going to do anything at work."
In conclusion, rock climbing is awesome and I'll have fun on friday.
In conclusion, rock climbing is awesome and I'll have fun on friday.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Catastrophe Averted
I just had a big "Oh Shit!" moment. Tomorrow's valentines day and I had forgotten to order some flowers for the girlfriend. Thankfully Loblaws still took my order for tomorrow and I narrowly skirted around disaster. Note to self: Write down my damn notes to self!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Bollocks and Such
Well the plan to go to Ubisoft didn't work out so well. They' pretty much turned me down on the spot. I didn't even get to speak to an HR rep. Oh well, at least the train part was fun, and first class on the way back was totally worth it.
I've got a job offer from Ross Video, I'm thinking I'll take it. I've basically given myself until Friday to make up my mind. It's a good place, good pay, but it's a lot of work, and I won't get to slack off as much. That as you may know, is something that I dearly enjoy doing.
I'm having lots of fun in the WoW expansion pack, I hit level 63 last weekend, and I'd like to hit 65 this weekend. Though things aren't really going fast enough with my girlfriend constantly interrupting my play time. That's a good thing mind you, I'd rather have my girlfriend than play, but it is still slowing down my questing and leveling. The money rate, experience rate, damage rate, drop rate, and nearly everything are totally awesome. I can't say enough how much fun it is, how how much of a sense of accomplishment it gives to finish a quest or two.
So as you may have guessed, I'm bored at work right now. I've already exhausted my supply of places to read on the internet. I'm down to either playing sudoku or whizzball. There's also this carefully crafted blog entry that I can work on. All the other coops either weren't here or were too busy to go to lunch and play some pool, so I had to eat lunch at my desk. Quite the boring prospect.
I'm thinking that I might just write a very long blog post, or maybe make the wikipedia entry for the Barrhaven movie, or make some plans for some engineering project, or maybe I'll even write a short erotic story, that could be moderately entertaining. I dunno, maybe I'll just keep playing whizzball until I'm in the top 50000, or the top 10000. If only they didn't lock out my usernames from other computers, then I'd be right at the top of the charts. Now that I think of it, I should definitely think of what I'm getting my mom for her birthday, and what I'm going to do for valentines day. But that's all boring... Oh well, maybe something interesting will come up. Something that doesn't involve removing #ifdefs.
I've got a job offer from Ross Video, I'm thinking I'll take it. I've basically given myself until Friday to make up my mind. It's a good place, good pay, but it's a lot of work, and I won't get to slack off as much. That as you may know, is something that I dearly enjoy doing.
I'm having lots of fun in the WoW expansion pack, I hit level 63 last weekend, and I'd like to hit 65 this weekend. Though things aren't really going fast enough with my girlfriend constantly interrupting my play time. That's a good thing mind you, I'd rather have my girlfriend than play, but it is still slowing down my questing and leveling. The money rate, experience rate, damage rate, drop rate, and nearly everything are totally awesome. I can't say enough how much fun it is, how how much of a sense of accomplishment it gives to finish a quest or two.
So as you may have guessed, I'm bored at work right now. I've already exhausted my supply of places to read on the internet. I'm down to either playing sudoku or whizzball. There's also this carefully crafted blog entry that I can work on. All the other coops either weren't here or were too busy to go to lunch and play some pool, so I had to eat lunch at my desk. Quite the boring prospect.
I'm thinking that I might just write a very long blog post, or maybe make the wikipedia entry for the Barrhaven movie, or make some plans for some engineering project, or maybe I'll even write a short erotic story, that could be moderately entertaining. I dunno, maybe I'll just keep playing whizzball until I'm in the top 50000, or the top 10000. If only they didn't lock out my usernames from other computers, then I'd be right at the top of the charts. Now that I think of it, I should definitely think of what I'm getting my mom for her birthday, and what I'm going to do for valentines day. But that's all boring... Oh well, maybe something interesting will come up. Something that doesn't involve removing #ifdefs.
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