Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas

References	<58a6bb1b-a98e-4c4a-86ea-09e040cb2d21@r35g2000prj.googlegroups.com>
Date	2011-04-27 06:14 +1000
Subject	Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas
From	Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Message-ID	<mailman.869.1303848895.9059.python-list@python.org> (permalink)

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On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 12:39 AM, snorble <snorble@hotmail.com> wrote:
> When I write a Python app, I have several unorganized scripts in a
> directory (usually with several named test1.py, test2.py, etc., from
> random ideas I have tested), and maybe a todo.txt file. ... The code is
> usually out of sync with todo.txt. I see people who release new
> versions and bug fixes, so I sometimes will create a new directory and
> continue working from that copy, because it seems like the thing to
> do. But if I ever made something worth releasing, and got a request
> like, "I have problems with the 2.0 version. Can you send me the old
> 1.1 version?"

As other people have said, version control is very handy. I use git
myself, but imho the choice of _which_ VCS you use is far less
important than the choice of _whether_ to use one.

As to the todo file - I tend to keep only vague ideas in a separate
file. Any todo that can be logically associated with a code file or,
especially, a particular piece of code, goes in that source file:

def function(parms):
    # TODO: This should check if Foo matches Bar and shortcut the computation
    ...

I have a very strict format: T, O, D, O, literal ASCII, always
uppercase. Makes it easy to grep (and I try to avoid "todo" in
lower-case, which means I can use a case-insensitive search if I
choose).

Additionally, if there's any task that will require checking of
multiple parts of the code, I'll create a keyword for it. For
instance, if I'm considering adding a local cache to an application to
reduce database traffic, I might do this:

//TODO CACHE: This will need to update the cache
...
//TODO CACHE: Read from cache instead
...
//TODO CACHE: Would this affect the cache?
... etc

The benefits of having the comments right beside the code cannot be
underestimated. Comments are far less likely to get out of sync if
they stare you in the face while you're changing the code - this is
why doxygen and friends are so useful.

Ultimately, it all comes down to discipline, and how important the
project is to you. At work, I have a lot of disciplines; we have a
wiki where stuff gets documented, we have source control, we have
daily backups (as well), etc, etc, etc. For little home projects, it's
not usually worth the effort. Take your pick, where do you want to go?

Chris Angelico

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Development tools and practices for Pythonistas snorble <snorble@hotmail.com> - 2011-04-26 07:39 -0700
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 09:00 -0700
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas "Martin P. Hellwig" <martin.hellwig@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 17:02 +0000
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Thomas Rachel <nutznetz-0c1b6768-bfa9-48d5-a470-7603bd3aa915@spamschutz.glglgl.de> - 2011-04-26 19:59 +0200
    Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Algis Kabaila <akabaila@pcug.org.au> - 2011-04-27 04:42 +1000
      Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Thomas Rachel <nutznetz-0c1b6768-bfa9-48d5-a470-7603bd3aa915@spamschutz.glglgl.de> - 2011-04-27 00:32 +0200
    Re: [OT] Comparing VCS tools (was ""Development tools and practices for Pythonistas") Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-26 20:44 -0500
      Re: [OT] Comparing VCS tools Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-27 12:45 +1000
        Re: [OT] Comparing VCS tools Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-27 16:51 +1000
        Re: [OT] Comparing VCS tools Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-27 14:13 -0500
      Re: Comparing VCS tools (was ""Development tools and practices for Pythonistas") rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 19:50 -0700
        Re: Comparing VCS tools (was ""Development tools and practices for Pythonistas") alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 22:37 -0700
      Re: [OT] Comparing VCS tools (was ""Development tools and practices  for Pythonistas") Kevin Walzer <kw@codebykevin.com> - 2011-04-29 09:26 -0400
        Re: [OT] Comparing VCS tools (was ""Development tools and practices for Pythonistas") Daniel Kluev <dan.kluev@gmail.com> - 2011-04-30 05:08 +1100
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-04-26 20:04 +0200
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas CM <cmpython@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 11:29 -0700
    Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas CM <cmpython@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 11:31 -0700
      Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Algis Kabaila <akabaila@pcug.org.au> - 2011-04-27 04:50 +1000
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-04-27 06:14 +1000
    Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-27 09:41 +1000
      Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Algis Kabaila <akabaila@pcug.org.au> - 2011-04-27 10:44 +1000
      Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-04-27 11:24 +0200
        Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> - 2011-04-27 15:13 +0300
          Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-04-27 14:24 +0200
            Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-04-30 08:37 +0100
              Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2011-04-30 09:15 +0000
                Re: [OT] VCS for non-text (was Development tools and practices for Pythonistas) Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-30 09:18 -0500
                Re: [OT] VCS for non-text (was Development tools and practices for Pythonistas) Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2011-05-01 19:53 +0000
            Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-04-29 19:35 +0100
              Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-30 09:17 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas CM <cmpython@gmail.com> - 2011-04-29 20:21 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-04-29 23:54 -0400
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-05-01 10:36 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Shawn Milochik <shawn@milochik.com> - 2011-04-30 20:47 -0400
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Dietmar Schwertberger <news@schwertberger.de> - 2011-05-01 18:11 +0200
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Jason Earl <jearl@notengoamigos.org> - 2011-05-01 14:51 -0600
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-05-02 07:49 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Paul Rubin <no.email@nospam.invalid> - 2011-05-01 19:37 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas David Boddie <david@boddie.org.uk> - 2011-05-02 01:33 +0200
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Dietmar Schwertberger <news@schwertberger.de> - 2011-05-02 19:40 +0200
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Shawn Milochik <shawn@milochik.com> - 2011-04-29 23:49 -0400
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-05-01 20:06 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-05-02 13:22 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-05-01 20:45 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Algis Kabaila <akabaila@pcug.org.au> - 2011-05-02 17:08 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-05-02 00:19 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Algis Kabaila <akabaila@pcug.org.au> - 2011-05-02 17:48 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas jacek2v <jacek2v@gmail.com> - 2011-05-02 02:09 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Algis Kabaila <akabaila@pcug.org.au> - 2011-05-02 20:38 +1000
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas jacek2v <jacek2v@gmail.com> - 2011-05-03 11:31 -0700
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> - 2011-05-03 21:19 +0300
                Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-05-03 11:50 -0700
        Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-27 22:14 +1000
      Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-04-27 19:33 +1000
      Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Jean-Michel Pichavant <jeanmichel@sequans.com> - 2011-04-27 13:17 +0200
        Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Thomas Rachel <nutznetz-0c1b6768-bfa9-48d5-a470-7603bd3aa915@spamschutz.glglgl.de> - 2011-04-27 20:08 +0200
          Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-28 09:44 +1000
      Re: [OT] VCS tools (was "Development tools and practices for Pythonistas") Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-27 14:07 -0500
        Re: [OT] VCS tools (was "Development tools and practices for Pythonistas") Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2011-04-28 20:48 +0000
          Re: [OT] VCS tools Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-29 07:50 +1000
            Re: [OT] VCS tools Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-28 18:09 -0500
            Re: [OT] VCS tools Daniel Kluev <dan.kluev@gmail.com> - 2011-04-29 11:37 +1100
            Re: [OT] From svn to something else? (was: VCS tools) Hans Georg Schaathun <georg@schaathun.net> - 2011-04-29 11:07 +0100
              Re: [OT] From svn to something else? Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-29 06:50 -0500
                Re: [OT] From svn to something else? Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-04-29 18:01 +0100
                Re: [OT] From svn to something else? Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-04-29 13:23 -0500
              Re: [OT] From svn to something else? Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-04-29 22:53 +1000
                Re: [OT] From svn to something else? "D'Arcy J.M. Cain" <darcy@druid.net> - 2011-04-29 09:26 -0400
            Re: [OT] VCS tools Martin Schöön <martin.schoon@gmail.com> - 2011-04-29 18:46 +0000
  Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2011-04-26 14:00 -0700
  recommended Emacs mode (was Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas) Gour-Gadadhara Dasa <gour@atmarama.net> - 2011-04-27 08:39 +0200
    Re: recommended Emacs mode (was Re: Development tools and practices for Pythonistas) rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2011-04-27 00:51 -0700
      Re: recommended Emacs mode Gour-Gadadhara Dasa <gour@atmarama.net> - 2011-04-27 10:10 +0200

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