Re: NetBeans: No longer working backwards?

Point taken - I stand corrected.

I didn't mean to say anything about being evil - it is just an
impression from Oracle which I get from other projects that they
prefer a rather silent mode of operation. And in at least two cases it
did get rather... uncomfortable.

Apologies for hurting anyone's feelings around here.


Alex.



On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Geertjan Wielenga
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hi Alex,
>
> On the contrary. I think you will find that someone named Jaroslav Tulach
> under Sun is still named Jaroslav Tulach under Oracle. And that the content
> of Jaroslav Tulach is also the same as it was before. The same is true for
> me. I am no different under Oracle to what I was under Sun. You'll find that
> this is true for everybody.
>
> And, in fact, the idea that Tom describes, of "Working Backwards", is
> completely unrelated to Sun. It was something that Jaroslav thought up
> himself. So, it's maybe time to stop thinking that ex-Sun employees have
> suddenly transmogrified into something evil just because they're now working
> for Oracle.
>
> Gj
>
> On 22-4-2011 11:30, Alex Lam S.L. wrote:
>>
>> I think you will find, as with all former projects from Sun, Oracle
>> has ceased honest and direct communications with the community as
>> there is no money in doing so.
>>
>>
>> Alex.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 8:26 PM, Tom Wheeler <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I really enjoyed the section about "Working Backwards" in Jaroslav
>>> Tulach's API Design book.  For those that are still waiting on their
>>> copy of this excellent book to arrive, it suggests a novel approach of
>>> staying focused to achieve an important goal.  To work backwards, you
>>> write a press release now which explains all the valuable features of
>>> the software you're getting ready to write.  That press release is
>>> dated with your expected release date, the implication being that
>>> you'll know you've been successful if the press release is still
>>> accurate when you ship your code.
>>>
>>> Although Jaroslav didn't originate this technique, he did apply it to
>>> NetBeans starting with NetBeans 6.1. I don't think it's a coincidence
>>> that the IDE has seen a lot of improvement since then.  Here are some
>>> examples from the last several production releases:
>>>
>>>  http://wiki.netbeans.org/Fitness69PressRelease
>>>
>>>  http://wiki.netbeans.org/Fitness68PressRelease
>>>
>>>  http://wiki.netbeans.org/Fitness67PressRelease
>>>
>>>  http://wiki.netbeans.org/Fitness65PressRelease
>>>
>>>  http://wiki.netbeans.org/Fitness61PressRelease
>>>
>>> However, I was not able to find one for NetBeans 7.0, nor have I see
>>> one for NetBeans 7.1.  I thought "working backwards" was a good way to
>>> plan features and to communicate this information to interested people
>>> -- it was in the "Teamwork" chapter after all -- so I am curious why
>>> this approach seems to be abandoned.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tom Wheeler
>>> http://www.tomwheeler.com/
>>>
>>>
>