Re: Release Plans

[Michael D. Godfrey]

On 09/26/2013 01:27 PM, Rik wrote:
> That said, we have an enormous backlog of good features which need to get
> out.  I always thought that we were going to do an intermediate 3.8 release
> anyways so I will put that forward again.  Why not do a quick release now,
> which still treats the GUI as experimental, and a 4.0 release whenever
> JHandles have been incorporated?
>
> --Rik
I very much agree that releasing "buggy" software is a very bad idea.  
But, frequent
releases do not need to imply "buggy."  In fact, it is my experience 
that frequent
releases are key to effective bug reduction.  A long period between 
releases means
that latent bugs hang around and are only caught after the release. 
These are hard
to resolve since the code containing the bug may have been written, and 
believed to
be correct, a log time ago.  Users find bugs that testing never catches.

In my previous email I think I suggested that the GUI, as it is now, 
should not be the
default, and, as Rik says, should be described as "experimental."  I 
also think that the
JIT should be compiled in but be default off.  I have used it quite a 
lot in the context of
mixed complex and real arrays and have used the loop-length parameter to 
set the
minimum loop to a low value.  My experience is that it all works 
correctly, and that
a low loop value does not add significant overhead.  All the same, JIT 
has not had sufficient
exposure to justify having it on by default.

So, I agree with Rik.  An "immediate" release is a VERY good idea and 
calling it 3.8
saves the level 4.0 for the "big" release of the completed GUI.  As part 
of the 3.8
release users should be strongly encouraged to try the GUI and report 
their experience,
both bugs and ease-of-use items.  So, the next steps are, obviously, a 
feature
freeze date and a blocking bug list.  I would prefer the freeze date to 
be something like
2 weeks away, or even now.  I am aware of only a few items that need 
clean up before
the freeze and start of release candidate releases.

Michael