• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

learning PSP and a suitable IDE

 
Greenhorn
Posts: 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm learning PSP right now, and I wanted to know what a good IDE is for applying the PSP principles. I've been thinking about BlueJ for its simplicity.

I've used IDE's such as NetBeans and Eclipse prior to this but Eclipse bypasses the compile stage which is needed in PSP and NetBeans, as Eclipse does, notifies you if there is a mistake with the red underlines so it kind of takes away from the defect recording process because one is tempted to correct the defect right away. Any suggestions?
 
author
Posts: 11962
5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Well, there's hardly an IDE these days that would not display compilation errors on the fly (while typing). I suspect it would make more sense to adapt PSP instead of using inferior tools just so you can count compilation errors.
 
author
Posts: 14112
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
You should be able to configure Eclipse in the way you need it. In the workbench preferences you should be able to disable auto builds, and in the Java editor's there should be an option to disable the "squiggles".

I would be interested in hearing about your experience with PSP. I can hardly imagine using it - it just sounds too painfull to me...
 
author
Posts: 608
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Why are you learning PSP? Are you in a university course and a professor is inflicting it on you? Are you working for an organization that thinks that CMMI is a good idea (if so, you'd better start looking for another job because they'll likely outsource you once the org hits level 3)?

It would be interesting to hear back regarding your experiences with PSP.

BTW, I'd like to apologize for the "PSP/TSP is agile CMMI" article that Software Development published a few months back. I need to write a rebuttal, sigh.

- Scott
 
carlos ramos
Greenhorn
Posts: 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The PSP course is part of my university studies. I'm looking forward to learning it, and that's why I wnat to get the most out of it by choosing the right tools for the job. Later on, when I get into industry, I'm sure I'll use very robust tools.

For now however, I'm curious to see where I stand right now as far as programming, and how I will improve once I see the data from PSP.

I'll look at those things in Eclpise that were recommended, thanks for the help everyone.
 
carlos ramos
Greenhorn
Posts: 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I went ahead with BlueJ as an IDE. The IDE is very basic and provides syntax highlighting but does not have advanced features such as those pop-up windows with all the functions when you type syntax on the fly.

The IDE has a compilation feature that stops at the first error, this enables me to record one defect at a time, eliminate it rather than getting a large list of errors. I can then continue on (a good thing for the PSP documentation).

My first program went very well and my estimates were very close to reality. I am also using a UML tool (EA Architect, desktop edition) so that I can practice design skills and UML. There is no code generation so that I can focus on learning UML, and of course, good software engineering practice. Of course out in industry, there will be code generation.

The good thing I have noticed is that in this first program I have been very focused. I thought the design very well. I coded carefully, and thought about each line on the fly. I noticed that during all phases, I took advantage of the time, and setting time estimates really helped keep me motivated. Also, during coding, I liked the fact that I had to really watch my syntax because the IDE wasn't going to look out for that. This analogous to the spell-checking in word processing programs where one just types and lets the spell checker fix it later.
 
Scott Ambler
author
Posts: 608
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

My first program went very well and my estimates were very close to reality. I am also using a UML tool (EA Architect, desktop edition) so that I can practice design skills and UML. There is no code generation so that I can focus on learning UML, and of course, good software engineering practice. Of course out in industry, there will be code generation.



How do you know if you're learning UML properly? Are you modeling with a UML expert that you can pick up good skills from? Is someone reviewing the diagrams after the fact? Which is the better approach?

How do you know if you're actually following good SE practice? Is good SE practice to create some documentation before you write your code? Is it to model a bit, code a bit test a bit, model a bit, ... and so on? Perhaps it depends on the context?

In industry many companies still use tools that don't generate code, and they think that this is an effective way to work. Hard to imagine, but it's true.

- Scott
 
carlos ramos
Greenhorn
Posts: 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Good point Scott. Just the other day I was asking a colleauge if he could take a look at a UML diagram of mine, because it's true, I'm really not sure if I'm drawing the diagrams correctly. I've had this one book called "Fundamentasl fo Object-Oriented Design in UML" that has helped, but I'm thinking about getting hte book UML distilled. It seems like a good reference, but I would still like for othe people to look at the diagram to see if it's correct.

In any case, I think I'm going overboard with the UML for these smaller programs, but on the other hand, it does help me think out the design.
 
Scott Ambler
author
Posts: 608
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Poke around the Agile Modeling site a bit before you spend more money on a book. The site should help you to improve your modeling efforts.

- Scott
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic