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I've been working for a couple of years on a small project, almost by myself, with the eventual help of some colleagues. The project is getting out of my hands, because the size of the code is growing (around 20K lines now) and the initial expectations I had for it have outgrown my own ability and time. So now I want to open source it, with the hope to attract some contributors. My motivations for going open source are these:
The project is rather academic (a library of algorithms for scientific computing), and I don't really have any economic interest in it.
The project is getting too big for me to handle it by myself, and the number of features I've planned are enough to keep a small team motivated (I think).
It needs a lot of testing, not just unit testing, but testing in the real world to see if the API is easy to use, the performance is as expected, etc.
I'm sure it has a lot of bugs, but I can only find a few, since its me alone testing it.
It needs proper documentation, because the API is getting a bit complex.
Other than that, I think that the project could benefit from a comunity in terms of deciding which features are most needed, and creating a set of guidelines for the future development.
I'm using Git, so my first thought was to publish it on Github and/or Codeplex. Besides that, what would be the steps to help to slowly grow a community of users and perhaps developers around it? Do I need a domain of my own, or should I stick to Github/Codeplex? How do I set up a platform for collaboration between developers potentially geographically separated? Should I set up a mailing list? And most important, how do I attract people to use it and collaborate with it?
The project is a .NET library for optimization and machine learning, written in C#.
There is only one piece of advice I can give here; use Github. It is common, (pretty much) everyone knows about it, it is easy to use, and the community who you are trying to attract is already on it. It has a ton of tools which you may not have even thought about, but may come in handy. It it pretty much the perfect solution for what you're looking to do, so don't overthink it.
As for attracting people to use it and contribute, if it is something that is useful and good, people will find it. I have found a ton of obscure projects with a simple google. If someone googles for something related to your project (and it is appropriate named and such) they will likely find it. There isn't really much you can do to force a demand though, just let it happen. As for contributors, people who are using it will likely contribute they're additions back. Just be sure to stay actively involved in managing it (monitoring pull requests, etc). If no one is accepting requests or managing versions, contributors will likely start to give up on your project.
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So, before I post my question, I will add a little bit of premise to it. I have written quite some code for academic purposes, but never before was it for production or an actual client.
What I would always do is this:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Do all the programming here
}
However, now when I have to build actual software for client (a small one), I find this process tedious and hard to handle as the code grows long.
I still create separate classes and do some of the work here and there, but I think it's not the correct direction.
What am I missing? How professional developers do it?
Thanks.
EDIT : This is not exactly a coding question however I still choose StackOverflow because I really want the different perspectives of the superb professionals present here. I am just an industry newbie, so I really need to start learning in the right direction.
I find this process tedious and hard to handle as the code grows long.
You are correct.
I still create separate classes and do some of the work here and there, but I think it's not the correct direction.
It is the correct direction. Programming is about abstraction. Properties, methods, handlers, classes, and so on, are all abstractions. Abstractions are useful because they present less complexity than their implementation details, and can therefore be understood and used effectively. Just as you do not learn how to drive by manipulating valves and cylinders and springs and camshafts; you learn abstractions like brakes and gear selectors.
When you learn to drive you are handed a pile of abstractions which you must learn to use. When you are programming you are both handed a pile of existing abstractions -- variables, lists, types, and so on, are all abstractions -- but you are also expected to build your own.
How do professional developers do it?
This is not a site to teach you how to program. This is a site for specific questions about actual code. Professional developers do it by spending thousands of hours learning from others and practicing their craft; go get started! Come on back when you have a specific question about actual code.
I think you are doing it right ! Indeed managing large programs is a hard job, you have to know how to modulate your code. You can create diagram representing your project so it will make the editing a lot easier.
Here is a link with some tools for Architecture and Modeling with Visual Studio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThEP7DgVAC0
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I am looking for honest / constructive feedback.
I hear a lot of my peers who have been using .NET for a while now, say how easily they built their GUI interfaces. On closer inspection they have used 3rd party tools such as Infragistics.
As a new .NET programmer (certified I may add), I wanted to know if anyone has actually created interfaces using nothing but what ever happens to be available by default with the framework...
I am guessing it shouldn't be too difficult to create a good, aethestic looking GUI without using 3rd party addons.
Yes We've done it (windows).
Depends on where you put the emphasis in your guess. No its not TOO difficult, but it's definitely not easy, unless your requirements are truly trivial, as opposed to apparently trivial.
All depends on what you need / want to do. My advice don't tell your boss, this will be easy, well not unless you want help getting out of the door for the last time.
For instance take a straight textbox.
They want to enter currency in it.
Multiple rounding algorithms.
Enter raw value display formatted, Currency symbol, thousand
separators.
Optional pounds or pence.
Optional blank or zero
Optional treatment of negatives.
Optional display formatting of negatives.
Alignment on decimal point.
Auto change of font on resizing.
And break none of the standard behaviours.
Trust me not simple at all. Especially if you do something Infragistics did not, and go for a good developer interface as well as the end user behaviours.
Not trying to put you off. It's challenging and rewarding, but when you have the entire application stuck behind some irritating bug in the UI, bosses lose patience real quick and you haven't got that get out of jail free card in shrugging and saying that's how X works.
NB just buying a suite won't fix all these problems, you can spend a lot of time producing a totally crap UI with them as well, just you don't have to write the code...
The answer to that is a lot of hard work. :(
Can your current suite be upgraded?
If you have the source could it be fixed, if you had the source and it's been twiddled with, are those "improvements" interfering?
Needs some hard-headed realistic analysis this. Which components are broke? How much are they used? How much of the extra behaviour in the suite do you really need.
Most important, how good is your separation of concerns in the current code, and how comprehensive both unit tests and automation tests.
Would compatibility mode sort it out?
Need to get to a point where the number of questions doesn't significantly out weigh the number of answers.
I've been where you are though it was another suite in another environment. The people looking for the cheap, quick and painless way of dealing with a mess like this were hugely disappointed, but it can be attacked in parts as long as everybody takes a heavy dose of pragmatism.
As a for instance,
Someone had bought a windows component that looked like a html link, and was heavily dependent on File associations and API calls. It was very visible and all over the place, I knocked up a much better and far less fragile one in a few days, swapped it in, a lot of perceived problems disappeared, confidence increased, and the remaining problems started to look less horrible.
Think of it like going into triage mode on bugs at the end of a struggling release.
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I release a bunch of tools for free, but recently I have began to sell an application, that has private research, and people have been able to get my source code, and one person publically released my entire source. I spent a lot of time on this program, just to have someone crack it, and release my entire source.
How can I go about protecting my program? I have tried HWID, but people are still able to crack it. I know I am limited by C#, but it the most convenient to use. I just need a way to protect my programs from people trying to do this.
You could have a look at the many obfuscation tools that are out there, for example these:
http://gapotchenko.com/eazfuscator.net
http://orangeheap.blogspot.nl
http://confuser.codeplex.com (succeeded by https://yck1509.github.io/ConfuserEx/ and then again by https://github.com/XenocodeRCE/neo-ConfuserEx)
http://ntoolbox.com)
Well, the problem with languages like C#/Java is that they are generally much easier to de-obfuscate. The way to secure this is generally to put this stuff into a webservice, but you said you couldn't really do that. What about porting specific non-trivial functions over to a language like C, and obfuscate that. Your C# program could then use reflection to make calls to this external/unmanaged dll. It would increase the difficulty for de-obfuscating, but the problem is that if someone wants it bad enough, they can figure it out as it is client-side.
It may be that legal action is the only real solution here, but this is not a site for legal advice, and I am not qualified to give it if it were.
Additionally, this could be a business decision. Consider Making your software open-source and post a donation link. I am also not qualified to give business advice, but this is worth considering. It may actually increase your revenue, not to mention the other benefits that come with releasing open-source software.
There's Dotfuscator (http://www.preemptive.com/products/dotfuscator/overview). But the best solution in some cases is to offer what you do as a web site (Software as a Service).
Consider this tool for example to convert VB to C#: http://converter.telerik.com/
Or this tool to format JSON: http://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/
This may or may not work for you. I don't know what the nature of the software you're trying to protect is.
No, your code needs to contain the information needed to decrypt itself, its an impossible problem to solve.
Your best solution is to put your intellectual property on a server in the cloud that only you have access to. Give your customers a unique login, audit their access to check for abuse, off load as much grunt work onto your customers machines, but keep your algorithms locked into the cloud.
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I am going to admit that I am battling with changing face of C# and unlearning what I learnt since starting out with C#1.
I started years ago writing greenfield C# 1.1 code and also currently work a lot with maintenance work on code that is written with previous versions of C#.
Being exposed to the old ways of doing things is hard as I am battling to unlearn from code what I have written in the past and that I have to look at daily that was written in previous versions of C#. Having to maintain Java projects also doesn't help as it is similar to C#1. With time I could probably unlearn my bad practices but with project deadlines it is hard to do.
My lazy mind also is against me as its logic says if I use OO and DRY principles and the code compiles my boss is happy and thinks all is good when I am just not simplifying my code with new ways of doing things.
I have started reading Jon Skeet's C# in depth 2ed as what it does it gives the code solutions to do a specific tasks for each of C#1,C#2,C#3,C#4 each time showing the code examples how it simplifies code but I am finding it hard to remember and put into practice these new methods due to having to still deal with all this legacy code daily and still having to balance my jack of all trades dev jobs.
Is there an easy way to refactor between coding practices from C#1,C#2,C#3 to C#4 either on the fly or at compile time and give suggests either in English language or refactor the code for me.
Is there anywhere like a tool or a site I can see the changes for the same code between the C# versions excluding Jon Skeet's C# in depth book?
The latest version of ReSharper would be a helpful tool to move your C# forward in many respects quickly. It will point you to newer practices and make it quicker & less painful to employ them across existing code.
A couple forward-looking ReSharper refactorings that come to mind are:
Static to Extension Method...
Property to Auto Property...
Also, ReSharper will, for example, encourage you to use var for implicit declarations where possible.
CodeRush can do much the same, but I have not used it as recently.
To see the difference between where such tools' refactorings put you and where you started, diffing against prior revisions of your files in source control comes to mind.
For changes to the .NET BCL alongside C# as #stakx points out, consider digging into build warnings regarding deprecated code built against newer versions of .NET. Once you learn (as just one example) to replace uses of System.Xml.XmlValidatingReader with System.Xml.XmlReader, making the change in other places flagged for the former deprecated type will become quick.
What's Obsolete in the .NET Framework on MSDN characterizes the most recent BCL deprecations since .NET 1.1 and how to update affected code.
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I have a working prototype for a killer app implemented in C# for Windows Mobile. It needs to be packaged into a commodity and efficiently sold. Possibly also converted to a web-centric platform.
Now I'd like to assemble a community of seasoned, possibly semi-retired IT professionals. They should be willing to work for fun and free, with an eye to future profits. I realize not many people have the option to risk their time on something like this, but - hey - on a global scale there should be more than one.
I've googled variants of the above, but no dice. And I don't really see SourceForge et al as venues for recruiting, but more as the place where you MIGHT put your code base when the project is under way. I'm not well versed in Open Source, and I'm not sure I want to "open the kimono" on the source until there's been some modicum of vetting process (goes both ways, of course).
So, rephrasing the question: what is the best site for recruiting people to a project like this?
Honestly, you may want to go with a social networking site like LinkedIn.
Your best bet on a risky project like this is to work with people you already know, and who already know you. If there are some bonds of trust in place already, you'll have a vastly greater chance of success, and a lot fewer unexpected personnel problems. Extending this to a 2nd degree contact (someone who knows someone you know) is a good next step.
Only if you really have no other options should you start pulling in people you've got no prior connection with, unless a) you're famous, or b) you want to start paying them and go through a more intense vetting (hiring) process.
Posting here probably helps, too :)
I wouldn't work for free for anyone unless they were already a close friend. Too many ways to get screwed.
To write a commercial application asking others to contribute without getting paid - even if you would give them a profit later on - to me that looks difficult.
I think you'd be better off to release a first version, perhaps with some limits, of your software for instance on XDA-developers. If it gets popular, you will have many free beta-testers out there and probably a lot of "skinners" who would probably contribute free-of-charge for the grafical user-interface. At this stage, you will probably get to know other developers at XDA who could help out with some stuff. In the beginning you could ask for donations and if you get some, you know that you have a software that people would be prepared to pay for. Then later on you could release a "Professional version" with more features that you could charge for.
just my 2 cents
I'm not well versed in Open Source, and I'm not sure I want to "open the kimono" on the source until there's been some modicum of vetting process (goes both ways, of course).
The best open source projects tend to be the ones that are developed with the mindset that nobody else will ever join your project. Start out with something simple that you can code yourself and then start putting the word out once you have a decent prototype (and treat every user as a potential volunteer). You may also consider recruiting anybody already in your network (friends, coworkers, etc) as they'd theoretically be more apt to join such a project.
It will be pretty difficult for you to get someone to commit to a project with a promising but early codebase. It will be even more difficult for you to recruit people with no codebase and no money.
I'm speaking mostly about the open source world, but I'd imagine that this would apply to a small shareware app as well. With that said, I'd recommend giving producing open source software a read if you want to learn more about the open source process.
To expand on ceejayoz's answer:
Even if you're friends, it's a heckuva way to get screwed. Things get said, promised, and discussed over beer with friends. Later, when there's something to lose (codebase, cash, clients, options) suddenly people have different recollections about who was going to get what.
Even if it's your bestest buddy, write down the details of your agreement. The more complicated the agreement, the more necessary it is for each of you to have a lawyer look at it.
The potential problems multiply with strangers. One of my bosses was also general counsel and she once said "If you don't trust the person, it's impossible to write a contract that will ensure their compliance".
It sounds like you're a developer and that's what you want to continue doing. If that's the case, I would recommend a joint venture.
That is, partner with someone who has the marketing skills that you need to get your product out to a wide range of people.
As far as places to look for those types of people, I would start at jvnotifypro.com and branch out from there looking for other sites similar to it. I believe at that site they have a few posts that mention some of those other sites.
Depending on your marketing budget, you could also go the route of paying people to install your program, paying for leads, etc. There's a lot of ways to market a program and to get the best coverage you really have to think outside the box.
Oh, you can also submit software to the sites that support PAD - I think there's an app called AutoSubmitPro that will do this for you. That's a great way to get your software out there a bit so that people know about it.
I agree with Jason. The way I did it in the past was through my existing network augmenting my skill set. Hopefully, it takes off from there!
From my experience the best thing to do is come up with a sales pitch for the other people you want to join the project you will have to sell the idea to them the same way you would sell it to a customer, people have to believe in something if they are going to work for free.
Additionally if you expect a professional to work for free you are going to have to give them a stake in the company...how big a stake all depends on viability of the project and your negotiating skills.