[ODE] code quality again

[Remi Ricard]

Hi,

>> There are two problems facing ODE, or any fundamentally hard open source 
>> project:
>>
>> 1) Solid physics simulation is actually a hard problem that requires 
>> significant rigor. Such rigor is actually not commonly found among open 
>> source developers or hobbyists.

Looking at software using ODE there is lots of paid programmer looking 
or at least using it. If some of them use 1hrs a week/month to improve 
and send patch for ODE the code base can be improved quickly and this 
will create some momentum.

> I'd agree, but numerical rigor for physical simulation is a different 
> problem to that which is ultimately quite straightforward - such as 
> using a style similar to the surrounding code when applying patches as 
> opposed to just mixing and matching with your own style, not leaving 
> single statements and/or huge blocks of code commented out without any 
> explanation as to why, being careful to free dynamically allocated 
> memory through all code paths, etc. I think some relatively minor 
> improvements could make a huge difference to ODE's codebase, and may 
> encourage others to get stuck in.

I agree !!!

--- cut ---

 > I also remember somebody else a
> few months ago volunteering to make a start on some code quality 
> improvements.

I don't know if I'm the one you are taking about but I sent an email
April 9 2007 "Coding style in ODE " 
(http://ode.org/pipermail/ode/2007-April/021753.html)
about using astyle and a test file for formatting.

It is only about formatting but other coding standard can be added to it.


> What if  patches were reviewed in some way before inclusion in the 
> repository? If going back and 'restyling' much of ODE is too 
> inconvenient for reasons already discussed on the previous thread might 
> it be worthwhile just to make sure things don't get any worse?

And maybe the programming with CVS access can reformat the surrounding 
of the patch.


> Also it seems like this mailing list is the primary means of 
> communication regarding all aspects of ODE - what if greater use were 
> made of the bug/feature/patch trackers in SourceForge?

Some people with cvs access should review patch on SF. Some of the patch 
are really old.


Remi