Re: SVG Book (was: SVG IG -- a few ideas)

On Oct 12, 2009, at 10:00 AM, Jeff Schiller wrote:

> Jon,
>
> Thanks for the background on tagging.
>
> Do you see tagging/branching as really useful for either of these
> projects though?

Tagging is the number one thing I can think of. The second edition of  
a book, for example, should be distinct from the first. And if errata  
need to be generated, having a tagged base to know of is good.

Release branching is also a factor. One could even view a first  
publication of a book as going onto a branch. Then errata for that  
first edition could be tweaks to that branch, optionally merged in to  
the second edition being developed on the trunk. If something no  
longer applies, then one doesn't need to "merge" that one, etc.


> For the torture tests, my intention is to have several folders (one
> for each test) and to basically have one version of each of these
> tests (i.e. the trunk again).  Thus, we just continue to work on the
> test (and the sub-tests) until things are finalized and publish Test 1
> to the web-at-large.  There is no 'versions' of the tests, just the
> absolute latest official version.  If someone finds a bug, we will
> update that sub-test and re-publish the latest.  I don't ever see a
> need to branch the torture tests.

For the tests, I can imagine it could be useful to have some subsets/ 
modules etc. that are split up. So it could be possible that a better  
way to organize is with a few projects each with their own trunk. What  
comes to mind is SVG Tiny, SVG Full, etc. For an initial set of tests  
we may not need that, but for later ones we could.

However... the main benefit can come from branches for development  
tweaking. As each person/group/company/whatever works on refining a  
test or sets of tests, they can be checking into a branch as they go  
along. This allows for better collaboration, and avoids the problem of  
someone "breaking" the trunk. This also allows for easier  
experimentation and a "safer" way for newer contributors to get  
involved with less risk. A DCVS such as git or bzr can really help in  
such cases.

Received on Tuesday, 13 October 2009 03:40:05 UTC