[opencms-dev] Poor Javadoc in OpenCms source - AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[Richard Friedman]

Alex,

Bart has a valid point about OpenCMS.  Leadership in the community must
come from somewhere.  With out leadership the project will slowly fade.

I have been very impressed with OpenCMS so far, so much I am beginning
to recommend it to my clients.   I have learned a lot already and I am
in process of setting up some test boxes running redhat and debian to
answer list questions.  I have good understanding of how it all works,
but I do not know the nooks and crannies just yet (especially around
frames, sorry Bart).

I am also attending an upcoming Content Management seminar where a lot
of the commercial vendors will be.  I hope to get a better
understanding, maybe write a quick paper on Content Management:
OpenSource vs Commercial.

-Rich Friedman
Open Software Advisors.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-opencms-dev at www.opencms.org
[mailto:owner-opencms-dev at www.opencms.org] On Behalf Of Alexander
Kandzior
Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 4:34 AM
To: opencms-dev at www.opencms.org
Subject: RE: [opencms-dev] Poor Javadoc in OpenCms source -
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Hi Bart,

no the original developers have not left the list. They are mostly just
busy working on their projects. And we do answer questions on the list,
but we must also rely on other list users since or time is limited. I am
sorry about that. 

As for the documentation of the code, any constructive help is surely
appreciated. 

Best Regards,
Alex.

Alexander Kandzior
OpenCms Group / Alkacon Software

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-opencms-dev at www.opencms.org 
> [mailto:owner-opencms-dev at www.opencms.org] On Behalf Of Bart Elberg
> Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 5:38 AM
> To: opencms-dev at www.opencms.org
> Subject: [opencms-dev] Poor Javadoc in OpenCms source - 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
> 
> 
> After spending months using OpenCms, I must express my 
> frustration with 
> the poor quality of comments in the source code.  Sure, there are 
> Javadoc comments for most of the methods, but has anyone 
> really looked 
> at them?  Far too many times I go to read the description of 
> the method 
> and find the description of a different method!  Obviously 
> the result of 
> cut and paste.  Don't get me wrong - I appreciate what 
> OpenCms provides 
> and the effort of all the developers.  The problem is that if the 
> original developer doesn't document the code, everyone else 
> that looks 
> at the code must spend an inordinate amount of time analyzing 
> the code. 
>  If we are lucky, someone down the road adds the comments and 
> documentation, but that is rarely as good as the original 
> developer's. 
>  Isn't it time to get the Javadocs fixed??  The success of 
> this tool is 
> based on the acceptance of the users and that is driven by the 
> participation of the developers.  The code is so poorly 
> documented that 
> many developers and even more users are avoiding using 
> OpenCms.  I know. 
>  I learned the hard way.  My original plan was to enhance OpenCms and 
> contribute to the project, but instead I wasted a lot of time 
> analyzing 
> code and trying to get a deliverable website functional.
> 
> My other issue is with the level of support provided on the 
> mail list. 
>  I feel pretty much alone in my OpenCms effort.  Maybe it is 
> the intent 
> of the participants and sponsors to "encourage" users to pay 
> for support 
> (and you have the right to), but it is not conducive to a successful 
> open source development project.  Most of my questions posted 
> over the 
> last few months went unanswered.  Have the OpenCms "gurus" and core 
> developers left?  It would be interesting to see how many list 
> subscribers there are, how many actively participate, and 
> what level of 
> expertise they feel they have.
> 
> If there is a group of individuals who consider themselves 
> "owners" or 
> "leaders" of OpenCms, I'd be interested in hearing from them.
> 
> -- 
> Bart Elberg
> __________________________________________________
> I.D.E.A.L. Technology Corporation - Orlando Office 
http://www.idealcorp.com - 407.999.9870 x15