I need help in setting up the development environment for .Net based projects.
I am currently working in an organization with a ‘sole’ developer (me). We develop and maintain the software in-house. We are currently using Visual Studio and manual upload of files -each time for test/production (with making changes in the source code each time!). I’ve read about the advantages of the ‘Joel Test’ and was impressed by it’s benefits – if followed properly.
My question is
1) Is it too much to implement a partial or complete capabilities where only a single developer is involved.
2) For each of the steps – what are the best tools available? For example – Q.1: Do you use source control? – I want to know which tool is good/best for implementing (1) in my scenario. and so-on for other Points also.
Other Information:
I am looking for solutions which are being used in the industry nowadays., and I am looking for commercial as well as free solutions – as long as they are stable and have a good use-base.
The current setup is like this
IIS-Production, SQL Server-Production
IIS-test,SQL Server-Test
developer machine - with Visual Studio Installed
Any help is greatly appreciated – I am looking for a standard and good solution so that it becomes easy for future developers working there. Thanks!!
Obviously, any answer to these questions will be subjective, and reflect the experiences, bias, etc of the answerer. With that being said, here is my not so short answer:
1) It is not too much to implement. Perhaps you don’t have to score 12, but you should definitely be using source control at a minimum.
2) The best tools available? That’s like asking me, “What’s the best car?” Not only are these things subjective, but the best tools vary by the situation.
(1) Anyhow, I like perforce as a source control system, and I like it a lot. I also like mercurial (hg) and git. I have not really used Team Server, but if you are all Microsoft, that might not be a bad choice either. (I said might).
(2) Can you make a build in one step? You should be able to make a build in one step. msbuild along with some python, bat, nant, or something should get you going. The best tool is the one you know best. My choice would depend on how robust you want it. I like python.
(3) Do you make daily builds? Do you make daily check-ins would really be the question? Why not build every check-in? How big of a system are we talking, and how long does step (2) take?
(4) Do you have a bug database? I would hope you are keeping track of bugs in some way other than a notepad. I like Jira, among others.
(5) Do you fix bugs before writing new code? You should do this. I do.
(6) Do you have an up-to-date schedule? It seems like a logical thing to have. You could use Microsoft Schedule, or any of 100 other neater tools out there.
(7) Do you have a spec? If you’re building something bigger than a few days work, it’s probably worth writing down what you are building first. These things are pretty obvious, are they not? Try Visio.
(8) Do programmer(s) have quiet working conditions? I prefer music while working, but if quiet is desired, it should be available.
(9) Do you use the best tools money can buy? I find many of the best tools are free, but ymmv, and obviously the job at hand dictates the best tool.
(10) Do you have testers? If you don’t now, I would hope you would.
(11) Do new candidates write code during their interview? This seems like good practice.
(12) Do you do hallway usability testing? I suppose this one depends on the product you are making, but it probably can’t hurt.
Only a handful of these Joel Tests really require tools, and hopefully I’ve given you my biased and subjective answers on that.