Here is my Centipede scepticism

OK, here is my scepticism. I know I'm talking
about something that I don't fully understand,
and it may start a thread with an overwhelming
number of messages I can't respond to, but you
asked for it! :-)

I think Centipede is fundamentally wrong in two
ways:

1. It is trying to solve something that isn't a
    problem.

To me, at least, ant is liberatingly simple.
I would never dream of extending a hierarchy of
messy makefiles, but ant is so simple. The ant
documentation is pretty good. I have added a
fair amount of standard and custom targets, and
only in a few cases have I had problems.

2. It is trying to automate/simplify something
    that is always going to have to be customized
    by hand.

Take my JavaDoc ant task, as an example. It
contains a LOT of things that are special to me
and my project. I believe there is no way you can
make it simpler than it already is.

   <target name="javadoc" depends="compile" description="Create Javadoc 
API documentation">
     <mkdir          dir="${dist.home}/docs/api"/>
     <javadoc sourcepath="${src.home}"
                 destdir="${dist.home}/docs/api"
            packagenames="*"
                  author="true"
                 version="true"
                     use="true"
               protected="true"
              splitindex="true"
             windowtitle="UPL code">
       <doctitle>UPL code</doctitle>
       <header>UPL code</header>
       <bottom><![CDATA[<i>Copyright &#169; 2003 Mats Henricson. All 
Rights Reserved.</i>]]></bottom>
       <link href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/api/"/>
       <link href="http://java.sun.com/products/servlet/2.2/javadoc/"/>
       <link href="http://java.sun.com/j2ee/sdk_1.3/techdocs/api/"/>
       <link href="http://java.sun.com/xml/docs/api/"/>
       <link href="http://www.junit.org/junit/javadoc/3.8.1/"/>
       <link href="http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/docs/api/"/>
       <link href="http://xml.apache.org/xerces2-j/javadocs/api/"/>
       <link href="http://xml.apache.org/xalan-j/apidocs/"/>
       <link href="http://tyrex.exolab.org/api/"/>
       <link href="http://hibernate.bluemars.net/hib_docs/api/"/>
       <classpath refid="compile.classpath"/>
     </javadoc>
   </target>

OK, that's it. Bring it on! :-)

Mats

> Scepticism is healthy, please share yours. You never know, it could help
> us -- and/or help us communicate. So, please tell us, no holds barred...
> 
> regards
> 
> Adam
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mats Henricson" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 11:35 AM
> Subject: Re: Is Centipede dead?
> 
> 
> 
>>No, I have just been curious. Sorry, Centipede is
>>not that high on my "give it a shot" list. First I
>>want to try:
>>
>>- AspectWerkz
>>- XForms
>>- CSS
>>- NoUnit
>>- JUnitPerf
>>
>>There is just no limit to how much good technology
>>there is out there.
>>
>>But frankly I am also a bit sceptical to the whole
>>concept of Centipede, but it could be just be being
>>ignorant too.
>>
>>Mats
>>
>>
>>>Are you a past user? Download the latest from CVS and give it a shot.
>>>
>>>regards
>>>
>>>Adam
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: [email protected]
>>>[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Mats
>>>Henricson
>>>Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 12:52 AM
>>>To: [email protected]
>>>Subject: Is Centipede dead?
>>>
>>>
>>>I have seen exactly one message in this newsgroup
>>>since May 1. That equals dead to me, unless the
>>>action went somewhere else...
>>>
>>>Mats
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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> This SF.net email is sponsored by:  Etnus, makers of TotalView, The best
> thread debugger on the planet. Designed with thread debugging features
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This SF.net email is sponsored by:  Etnus, makers of TotalView, The best
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