Tips for keeping large projects in check??

[fenris]

I am finding with java it is difficult to keep things organized, ie keeping all the classes straight. I am fine when there are less then 5 classes but when there are more and I have to let the project sit for a while (working at my real job ) I tend to have to read all the comments and figure out what exactly I was doing again.

I am wondering if the professional programmers out there have some types on keeping things organized when working with a large number of class files.


Any help would be appreciated as I could learn to get a grasp on the confusing mess that is my java projects directory.

 

[palbano]

Dear Troy,

> keeping all the classes straight.

Try this:

package com.mycompany.jtml;
package.straighten();

Sorry could resist ;o)

>I am wondering if the professional programmers out there have some types on
>keeping things organized when working with a large number of class files.

Assuming you meant "have some tips", then the three most important things are:

1) UML
2) UML
3) UML

Also you might want to consider using the Unified Modeling Language. hehe ;o)

"But, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong".
-pete

 

[fenris]

UML => Unified Modeling Language ?

Sorry but you lost me on that one....

 

[calahans]

Hi fenris,

The parts of palbanos email I can follow I would agree with (the packaging stuff). Definitely choose the correct package.

What you also need is some form of change control tool. We use Microsoft Visual Source Safe - we connect directly to the UNIX box via SAMBA. Anyhow, you need to insure that programmers get the latest versions of components regularly to make sure that their code compiles with the rest.

We also have a nightly job that gets the latest version from sourcesafe and attempts a build - any erros are highlighted and corrected.

The last point I would make out is that you should not need to look at the code of other components. Theses components have publicly accessible methods which return a particular type (the API). This is a contract between the developer of the component and the user (another programmer). You should not need to know whats going on inside the object.

Hope this help.

 

[fenris]

Thanks for the input....Much appreciated, I really like the industry angle. I think that it helps me to know how people in the industry do things.