[esp-r] Invitation to a subversion for ESP-r workshop at eSim 2012 in Halifax

[Jon Hand]

If you have ever compiled ESP-r, tweaked it, wanted to get access to the latest facilities and
bug-fixes are not already aware of this upcoming workshop please have a look at the 
http://esim.ca workshops page!  It could save you a lot of time and frustration.

What is subversion - its source code control and it is at the core of the continuing evolution
of ESP-r.  ESP-r is getting close to 8000 revisions. It is the glue that binds the development
community together as well as allowing those who are not hard-core geeks keep up to
date with ESP-r.

Those in the development community might have noticed that I have made rather a lot of commits
to the ESP-r repository and have the habit of backing this up with pre-commit syntax checking (forcheck)
and lots of runs of the tester.pl scripts.  I also compile for multiple compilers and multiple machine
types (Linux workstation and compute servers, OSX, Cygwin and Native Windows).  I am one of the
more paranoid folk in the community.

In order to keep somewhat sane I have arrived at some habits which help me balance the paranoid 
with the pragmatic.  Sometimes I have helped others commit their code - and as Joe Clarke has noted 
this does not scale well.  I notice great stuff happening in folks branches that never get into the
development_branch.  Sometimes I want to get that great stuff so one of my habits is to quickly
checkout that other 'branch', compile it and see if that stuff is something that will help me get
my work done.  Svn allows me to do that checkout with a single command.  

This workshop is a chance to experience and embed some of these habits.  Subversion is like a Japanese
tea ceremony - it is a ritual and a habit. Learning it from a book results in a differently tasting
cup of tea than if you work with a mentor and get the feel for doing it yourself.  I believe that svn
saves me LOTS OF TIME and reduces risk.  This workshop might just change your level of productivity
so that you have more time to do other stuff!  

Here is the summary from the announcement on the eSim conference web page.  I look forward
to working with you at the workshop!

Regards, Jon Hand

ESP-r Source Code Management workshop (afternoon)

Software developers working with ESP-r use the source code management tool subversion to update ESP-r, manage their own evolution of code and models as well as communicating their contributions to the development community. Subversion is like a Japanese tea ceremony in its learning curve. For some people it is utterly mind-boggling.

Subversion can be a tool that saves you time and protects your work. If you are baffled by the rituals this interactive half-day workshop is your chance to embed new skills and habits. The workshop is hosted by Dr. Jon Hand of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow who has made thousands of commits and dealt with hundreds of conflicts as an ESP-r developer. If you are in the development community and have been lurking on the sidelines or in a research group and want to increase your productivity or even working with other simulation software and want to introduce subversion into your working practices this workshop has your name on it!

During the workshop we will clarify the jargon and review the steps needed for a range of software management tasks. We will also put subversion in the context of tasks used to ensure that the evolution of the software is robust.

The schedule is as follows:

13:00-13:45 Introduction SVN and the developer community
13:45-14:15 SVN clients and sandboxes
14:15-14:45 Introduce common tasks (check, merge, commit resolve)
14:45-15:00 Break
15:00-15:30 Experiment with common tasks
15:30-16:00 Review of working practices (good habits and time savers)
16:00-16:30 Testing changes and compile cycle
16:30-17:00 Incorporating revisions into the standard ESP-r distribtuion