[Bf-committers] New Developer Meeting Minutes

Martin Poirier theeth at yahoo.com
Sun Dec 6 18:04:11 CET 2009


Full long is here if anyone needs it:

http://blenderartists.org/~theeth/bf/meeting-newdev-09-12-06.txt

Martin

--- On Sun, 12/6/09, Roger Wickes <rogerwickes at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Roger Wickes <rogerwickes at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Bf-committers] New Developer Meeting Minutes
> To: "bf-blender developers" <bf-committers at blender.org>, bf-scripts-dev at blender.org
> Cc: me at rogerwickes.com
> Received: Sunday, December 6, 2009, 11:34 AM
> New Developer Meeting Summary
> Dec 06 2009
> 
> 1. 2.5 codebase. No one really interested in doing any
> patches to 2.49.
> 
> 2. C or Python coders?
> 
> Dec 06 09:07:42 <ideasman42>    (relying on
> tight python integration for tools useful within a month or
> so 2.5 is no way up to this)
> Dec 06 09:07:46 *    dmbasso votes for C
> Dec 06 09:07:57 <amennelet>    I'm more C
> codebase, specially windows manager
> Dec 06 09:08:05 <xla>    my vote for C
> base
> Dec 06 09:08:19 <kattkieru>    I'm more
> interested in Python, for exporters and custom UIs. 
> Need those things for work.
> Dec 06 09:08:25 <nfz>    c, python
> Dec 06 09:08:54 <matd>    same as
> amennelet
> Dec 06 09:10:55 <kattkieru>    Well, if we
> go with C I'd like to hear about the armature and
> constraints systems.
> Dec 06 09:11:35 *    dmbasso has a good
> experience with both C and Python
> Dec 06 09:12:36 <yoff>    python and c
> both
> Dec 06 09:13:16 <matd>    i know py and
> have basic c knowledge
> 
> 3. Functional areas of interest
> 
> Dec 06 09:10:55 <djaddison>    I am new to
> blender developement. I have a list of ideas and interests.
> For the time being, two questions. Is there a supporting
> role for people that don't have time to invest in code
> development. Example a research team. Secondly, who would be
> a good person to talk to about low level event handling?
> Dec 06 09:10:59 <ideasman42>    but I would
> like to know if the new devs here are more experienced with
> C or python
> Dec 06 09:10:59 <theeth>    tools developed
> in python are as integrated in the UI as C tools
> Dec 06 09:11:29 <kh_pylon>    I need to
> come back up-to-speed on the C code, so I can be useful in
> helping wrap things for Python
> Dec 06 09:11:37 <theeth>    djaddison: for
> the second one, it depends if you mean handling events at
> the OS queue level or the internal blender queue
> Dec 06 09:12:37 <djaddison>    theeth. not
> sure were the division is yet. I'd like to interface
> hardware control surfaces
> Dec 06 09:12:53 <theeth>    both then
> Dec 06 09:13:34 <PapaSmurf>    amennelet
> would like to work on windows manager, Kattkeiru would like
> Python import/expoorter. Are there other new devs that are
> interested in a specific functional area?
> Dec 06 09:14:01 <yoff>    I would like ton
> understand how much would be involved in getting a muscle
> system working
> Dec 06 09:14:09 <kattkieru>    PapaSmurf,
> if we're sticking with C I'd rather work on the armature and
> constraints.  We can do importi / export another day.
> :)
> Dec 06 09:14:47 *    dmbasso is interested in
> physics simulation, specifically muscle simulation
> Dec 06 09:15:47 *    DingTo considers himself a
> new dev too, if no one complains about that ;-)
> Dec 06 09:16:40 <nfz>    I'm interested in
> helping with 2.5 todo list and bug squashing.
> Dec 06 09:27:33 <yoff>    more into
> animation, rigging..
> Dec 06 09:35:15 <dmbasso>    what I want to
> do... learn the area of Bullet integration ;)
> 
> 4. 2.5 Structural overview
> 
> Dec 06 09:17:37 <PapaSmurf>    theeth and
> ideasman, could you please help the new devs point them
> where to get started plz?
> Dec 06 09:16:35     http://www.blender.org/development/architecture/
> Dec 06 09:16:47 <theeth>    this page is a
> good starting point for blender architecture
> 
> Dec 06 09:18:22 <KAHR-Alpha>    theeth: is
> that page still relevant for Blender 2.5?
> Dec 06 09:18:27     http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/BlenderDev/Blender2.5#Implementation
> Dec 06 09:18:50 <theeth>    KAHR-Alpha:
> mostly yes, the internal data structures haven't change that
> much
> Dec 06 09:19:16 <theeth>    that last link
> lists architecture details for the 2.5 system
> Dec 06 09:19:22 <theeth>    window manager,
> event system, operators
> Dec 06 09:19:35 <theeth>    it's helpful
> for learning the basis of the new system
> Dec 06 09:19:59 <theeth>    evidently,
> implementation differs a bit from design (ha!), but nothing
> too big
> Dec 06 09:22:06 <theeth>    unless someone
> has a specific question they want answered, I can do that in
> the mean time
> 
> Note: Mindrones is going to summarize the next 20 minutes
> into a wiki in the Developer's Documentation section. 
> Some hightlights for reference:
> 
> Dec 06 09:25:48     http://www.blender.org/community/get-involved/
> Dec 06 09:25:57 <DingTo>    I would say the
> best start is to refresh some wiki pages so new devs can see
> who is responsible in what area in Blender
> Dec 06 09:26:05 <DingTo>    ^Maintainer
> List
> Dec 06 09:26:29 <theeth>    in 2.5, most of
> the code is neatly layed out by "topics" in
> /source/blender/editors/
> Dec 06 09:27:44 <theeth>    if you want to
> work on one particular tool, the easiest way it to track it
> down from the operator, which is usually added and mapped in
> files ending in _ops.c
> Dec 06 09:27:53 <mindrones>    would be
> cool if we layout folders and explain in wiki what's for a
> certain folder
> Dec 06 09:27:59 <PapaSmurf>    theeth, half
> of this might be stuff that experienced devs need to do to
> create an environment/doco where new devs can come on board
> Dec 06 09:29:43 <ideasman42>    Is everyone
> here used to searching the source and finding code they need
> to edit, just not sure at what point you guys are with
> blenders source
> Dec 06 09:29:45 <matd>    theeth: wiki is
> the wrong place ihmo. the code should be commented in
> place.
> Dec 06 09:31:02 <ideasman42>    is the dir
> structure really a problem? - I normally grep the source for
> keywords, then learn the structire as I go
> Dec 06 09:31:09 <PapaSmurf>    a _readme in
> each folder explaining the purpose fo the contents of that
> folder is very helpful
> Dec 06 09:31:22 <DingTo>    ideasman42: i
> fin dblender/editors clear
> Dec 06 09:31:44 <theeth>    ideasman42:
> having a basic idea of where things are can be useful,
> especially if you're looking for a function that's used a
> lot
> Dec 06 09:31:45 <amennelet>    ideasman42:
> the difficulty is to understand the code philosophy (excuse
> me, I'm french)
> Dec 06 09:31:50 <mindrones>    ideasman42
> true but as a start it could serve as a mental index?
> Dec 06 09:31:56 <ideasman42>    ok, its
> just often I need to edit code in BKE/rna/editors/python api
> etc
> Dec 06 09:32:21 <mindrones>    I use kscope
> too
> Dec 06 09:32:43 <ideasman42>    amennelet,
> yes, I can understand that, getting the 'big picture' is
> harder
> Dec 06 09:32:44 *    nfz uses code::blocks to
> search source
> Dec 06 09:33:01 <ideasman42>    but finding
> the code for an operator say - should not be hard
> Dec 06 09:33:07     amennelet, http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo
> Dec 06 09:33:12 <mindrones>    another
> thing I need as a newcomer is some form of dependencies
> graph, even if I know this can be complicated to get
> Dec 06 09:33:16 <amennelet>    ideasman42:
> yep, that why I'm trying to fix bug to learn peace by peace
> Dec 06 09:35:00 <theeth>    like I said
> earlier, starting from an operator is very easy in 2.5
> Dec 06 09:35:10 <theeth>    or UI scripts
> 
> Dec 06 09:35:46 <theeth>    DingTo: the
> problem with RNA is that if people don't know the api well,
> they can shoot themselves in the leg fast
> Dec 06 09:35:50 *    nfz started with ui scripts
> Dec 06 09:36:00 <ideasman42>    yoff, BGE,
> nodes, compo, py api, rendering... blah blah, each is a
> fairly involved area
> 
> Dec 06 09:36:07 <mindrones>    for example
> maybe ideasman42 and theeth can explain code wise the diff
> between operators and rna?
> 
> 5 Experienced Mentors
> Dec 06 09:36:08 <PapaSmurf>    I would like
> to hear from experienced developers as to whether they would
> like to mentor a new developer. Like we did with GSOC.
> Dec 06 09:36:38 <theeth>    PapaSmurf: I'm
> always willing to do that
> Dec 06 10:3x:xx <joeedh>    hopefully I can
> mentor them and get them contributing bunches of code :)
> 
> 6. Next meeting Jan 3 2010 1500h Amsterdam time (0900 EST)
> 
> Action Items:
> 
> Roger: Summarize, ml minutes
> Mindrones: wikify theeth's brain dump
> Roger, anyone: Review information gathered, consult with
> ideasman and theeth, determine how best to proceed. 
> 
> 
>       
> _______________________________________________
> Bf-committers mailing list
> Bf-committers at blender.org
> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
> 


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