From: Jake McArthur <jake.mcarthur@...>
Date: 2006-04-19T00:44:45+09:00
Subject: Re: Google Summer of Code -- It's back

BTW, I don't think I want this posted on the ideas page. I'm going to  
be applying with this one probably! :)

On Apr 18, 2006, at 10:19 AM, Jake McArthur wrote:

>> [...] ideas [...]
>
> I was struck with an idea yesterday that could theoretically be  
> really nice for Ruby developers. I'm sure most of us are aware of  
> the idea of keeping code DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), and I think  
> most people that know about it don't have too much of a problem  
> with following it. Another idea that programmers follow, not as  
> well, is to not reinvent the wheel, which for the sake of the rest  
> of this e-mail I will refer to as DROP (Don't Repeat Other People).
>
> My idea is to create an open source code repository, web site, and  
> set of tools designed to help people to automate the process of  
> factoring code out of their projects which they can all share.  
> First, it helps them to find instances of code that need to be  
> DRYed or DROPed by comparing lines of code across the entire code  
> base in the repository and pointing out lines that are similar to  
> things that have already been done before. If the programmer finds  
> things within his program which he repeated, then it should be a  
> simple a matter of factoring out to another function or class  
> within his code to DRY it. If he finds that somebody else has  
> similar code, he can factor it out into a separate "project" in the  
> repository to DROP it. People with similar code in the repository  
> are notified so that they can update their individual projects  
> accordingly if they desire to do so.
>
> Using code that has been factored out into these external projects  
> should be both easy to integrate and easy to keep up to date in  
> each project. Though I'm not quite sure of the mechanics of how  
> that would be done yet, I'm envisioning a script programmers can  
> run that will bring all functions and classes they are using from  
> external projects up to date in their own program. As it does this,  
> it runs all the programmer's tests to make sure that it doesn't  
> break something and pulls back to a previous revision if necessary.  
> (As such, it would practically be a requirement that all code that  
> takes advantage of this be unit tested.) This would also provide  
> the benefit that factored out projects can be edited by anyone,  
> like a wiki, without screwing everything up; any time something  
> gets messed up or is incompatible with some projects, somebody will  
> see when they try to update and can fix it themselves.
>
> The web site would show the projects in the repository, provide a  
> method of discussion around the various bits of code, and give  
> downloads and instructions for using the resource for yourself.
>
> My hope is that this would be a tool that could speed up  
> development, simplify and stabilize Ruby programs, and bring a  
> collaborative atmosphere even to individual projects.
>
> - Jake McArthur