Released: DevBase Alpha
REBOL DevBase has finally been released to alpha testers. Hooray!
Another dream becomes reality. Many of you know I've wanted this system for a couple years now.
 | | DevBase Collaboration Tool (50 KB client, 25 KB server) |
What is DevBase? Why is it necessary? Why did I interrupt R3 development
to design it? Let me start at the beginning...
| | What | DevBase is a simple developer collaboration system for source
code, documentation, tests, bugs, and notes. It is an archive, but also
a way to monitor and manage the process.
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| | Why | DevBase was created to help us finish R3 by providing a
way for developers to easily contribute... with code, documents, and
tests. Without it, R3 would take much longer to complete. It has many parts to manage.
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| | How | DevBase is entirely written in REBOL, both the client and the
server. Why? Two reasons: we wanted a tool optimized to our workflow methods,
and we wanted something we could easily enhance. It is much easier to
improve on a 50KB program written in REBOL than a 5MB program in C++.
Fixing bugs is almost instantaneous (and many fixes/enhancements have already been contributed).
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| | When | It's been in the hands of testers for a few days. Once the alpha
group agrees it works well enough, we'll make it more accessible. (A few weeks into November would be my guess.)
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So, in essence, we wanted a single archive for all REBOL source code,
docs related to that code (like dictionary entries), and test suites
that validate the code. We also wanted to transition our bug handling and developer notes into the same system, so we can see all related items together in the same location (still working on that part of it).
Other features worth summarizing:
- Smart client access - fast response, no world wide wait (WWW)
- Able to deal with REBOL source as needed - such as file headers.
- Supports batch processing scripts - only a few lines to upload 100 files at a time.
- User accounts and permissions for acceptance, denial, project creation/deletion.
- Powered by LNS (REBOL/Services), the REBOL SOA (service oriented architecture) - making it easy to operate and keep updated.
- Optimized network traffic on our servers and your computer.
I'll let you know when we're ready for more open user testing. And, I
should mention this is also the main step necessary to make R3 more
openly available for testing.
PS: And, thanks to my son, Kurt, for making the nice looking DevBase icons and logo.
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