Public Class GeoffAppleby : I'm looking forward to...

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I'm looking forward to...

I'm looking forward to many things. My next payrise, Christmas, watching my daughter grow up, getting married, getting enough sleep at night...

But right now, there's one big thing i'm looking forward to.

Visual Studio Team System.

I want this thing so bad. I have no idea how to really use it. I haven't had an opportunity to run the beta. I've no clue if the thing is usable or not.

But i tell you what, it HAS to be better than Rational ClearCase (I'm not going to link to the actual thing, i don't want them to have the google juice. This link is to a discussion on it's pros and cons, and the other links further on..well..they'll show you what i think, if you can find the common theme :). We're stuck with this lump of fragrant excrement at work. This thing is a nightmare, for so many reasons that if i get started, then i probably won't stop until next week some time. But i want to get started, so i'll limit it to a few simple examples.

Just last week, a set of document were checked in to source control, and the next day, the documents were gone.
Every time i log in, ClearCase reports an error to me - why? Because my development box gets it's IP address via dhcp.
Every time I right click on a file in windows explorer i have a delay, while the shell extension contacts a) the license server to see that i'm licensed for CC, b) contacts the source server to check if this file is currently in source control, and c) only then finally will it let the menu render.
I'm often in both the services console and the IIS management console. Since i use both of these, instead of opening them seperately, i open 'Computer Management' and get at both right there. But every time i do i have to wait because CC stuff in 'Services and Applications' node is contacting it's license server...and again, not in a background thread.
All the UI's are crappy.

Probably my biggest beef is simply the massive slowdown that i have because of it. My current project went into source control this week, because we've been running against very tight deadlines and haven't been able to afford the amount of time it takes to get it all sorted. So now, with the source in a 'safe' place, i'm probalby coding at half the speed of what i would normally be doing, because i'm always having to stop and deal with the CC crap.

So, most of Team System i can live without (that is, i still want, still need, etc etc) but we really need a decent source repository. I want foundation server, and i'm really hoping i'm not getting my hopes up for something that will make my world better, only to have them brought crashing down in the next beta drop, when i figure i'll have a proper chance to play.

Why do i say this now? I read something very interesting (via Rob Caron) on Dave Bost's blog. While the whole post is worth reading, the most important part for me was this one line:

Microsoft will be providing a VSS and ClearCase upgrade tool.

Let me hear you all say 'whoop whoop'!

Listening to: going under - evanescence - (3:34)

Posted: Wednesday, 10 November 2004 6:01 PM by Geoff Appleby

Comments

Mattyt said:

Heya Geoff,

I usually enjoy reading your blog but today was horrified! You attacked my beloved ClearCase! How could you?! ;)

Seriously, I'm lucky to be in a large environment where we have a few guys responsible for maintaining CC - and I'd hate to be without it. We have multiple sites (hugely geographically seperated) with a couple hundred devlopers and it performs the job admirably.

Sure it has it's problems (though we've _never_ lost anything with it - it's been incredibly reliable), but it gives you ultimate flexibility and powerful tools...now that I've grown accustomed to it I find going back to CVS and Subversion (which I also use on various "at-home" projects) really limiting and painful.

And don't get me started about the abhorrent excuse for revision control software that is Source Safe. [ick!]

If you're having issues with speed (yes, you do take a performance hit with dynamic views - but they're oh-so convenient!) have you tried snapshot views? They basically copy a (config-spec specified) set of files locally; access should be as fast as 'normal' files. We found build times were around two to three times faster.

Anyways, ClearCase is not for everyone but if you're a medium to large group (say, 20+ developers), can afford it, are willing to devote time to maintain it, then I reckon it's pretty hard to beat...

Cheers,
Matt

# November 11, 2004 2:11 AM

Geoff Appleby said:

Heya Matty (was the t on the end a typo? :)

First off, thanks for the advice, but no, snapshot views is all i ever use :)

To everything else you said....really, i'm glad it works for you. There's no sarcasm in my voice at all - if it works, then great. We obviously have issues here (and of course, my opinions only apply to my own circumstances) but you have to admit that the UI elements of CC are pretty damn crap, yes? :)

And to be completley honest, at least from my perspective as a developer, i only want a source code repository no matter what the system is, i'm not interested in all that other stuff - that's for the PMs and team leads to worry about.

I'm pretty chuffed i must admit to hear someone say they like reading my blog - that implies i have a regular reader *grin* w00t!

I'll never be completely happy with any source control mechanism, but all i want is something that doens't interfere with my development experience. No system at all has been able to offer me that so far - except for the projects where i'm the only developer, so i can leave the whole codebase permanently checked out all day and check it in at night to make sure it gets backed up :)

# November 11, 2004 3:10 AM

MattyT said:

Heya Geoff,

Nah, the 't' on the end was for my surname - Trentini...but it _was_ meant to be a capital!

The UI elements of CC were pretty icky in earlier versions, but I don't think they're too ugly these days. Are you talking about the version tree diagram or the merge tool or checkout finder? 'Cause there ain't really a lot of GUI to CC... :) Unless we're talking about two different things. Do you use the "Unified Change Management" guff - we don't, we use CC purely as a revision control system. I've heard the UCM stuff is poo...

I guess I like Clearcase because, ok, now that I've figured it out, it gets outta my way and allows me to develop the way I want. And it's powerful and flexible enough so that I don't get in the way of other peoples changes.

And yeah, I read a lot of stuff on the web but I always read your blog (via bloglines). Even though you like VB (sigh ;) you're an Aussie developer with seemingly similar sentiments to myself (ie, you enjoy development and you like to do it right). I guess I'm one of your groupies. ;)

If you're bored I've got a blog too, but I'm having trouble finding time to update it. Check out http://sublimesoftware.blogspot.com/.

Cheers mate,
Matt

# November 13, 2004 8:07 AM

MattyT said:

Oh, and congrats to you and Jordie on the recent news! ;)

# November 13, 2004 8:08 AM

Geoff Appleby said:

Subscribed! and thanks :) Keep on updating your blog and i'll groupie you right back.

Even though i like VB? Dude, your blog says you do C++. I'm not sure what's worse, that or C#. Or Lisp.

Nah, C# is definately the worst.

The most impressively bad UI bits are in ClearQuest, i must admit. But there's some bad behaviours in CC Explorer too...mostly it just looks old, i guess. And throws too many damn popups at me.

Yeah, i think we use a bit of the UCM stuff, but it's all greek to me, and i start tuning out (mostly due to lack of understanding) when I hear people saying things like UCM, baseline, rebase, integration stream...the list goes on :)

# November 13, 2004 8:24 AM

MattyT said:

Without getting into a religious debate, C++ is the _coolest_ and VB just _bites_. ;D

Seriously, although C++ is my native tongue, I'm a bit of a language whore - I think just about all of them have their place. Even VB! (well, VB.NET - do you actually enjoy VB6??) I've found C# and Lisp are both terrific languages, in the right context. C# actually is really growing on me, what aspects of it are you unhappy with?

The only problem with Lisp is that your eyes get sore after staring at all the braces... ;) But it's a very elegant language.

Yeah, we don't use any of the ClearQuest stuff (we use DDTS for bug tracking - now that's a Rational product I can't stand!) but I understand that we're thinking of migrating to it. From your description it sounds like this would be a bad move?

You know, I haven't heard anyone say a good thing about the UCM stuff...

We seem to be getting off the blog post topic... ;)

# November 14, 2004 2:55 PM

Geoff Appleby said:

I'm a jack of all trades, language wise, but i'm definitely happiest in VB now adays. To me, it reads like english, and i like that :) I used to be a total C head tho, to the point where english was my second language, C was my native.

ClearQuest is pretty crappy, yes. But really, are any of them any good?

As for getting off topic, fchah! Did you notice the set of comments on my post with the pictures of my hair?

# November 14, 2004 11:41 PM