[Bf-taskforce25] Questions from incoming non-core developers...

[Roland Hess]

Since Matt suggested that this stay on-list as a help to others coming 
after, I've decided to write up a couple of questions and requests that 
I think will enable incoming developers get up to speed and help 
continue to speed this project along.

On the existing docs:
I've read all of the existing documentation for both the design and 
ongoing progress on 2.5, and while they are full of information, they 
don't seem to provide some of the key items that would be needed in 
order for someone to get on board who was neither (1) a hardcore CS 
student, nor (2) one of the developers who has been involved with this 
process for a while. (And if you were able to pick this up without being 
in either of those categories, you're probably better at this than you 
think ;) )

What I (and maybe others) would need in order to start coding:
(1) A nice, self-contained example of wrapping a DNA struct into RNA. 
I've browsed through and read several of the RNA files, especially the 
one's whose DNA I've coded with before and understand. In addition to 
the RNA def in those files, though, there seem to be already some 
get/setters and iterators, so it leaves me not sure how to proceed. Are 
those additional bits part of the wrapping, or extras put on after the 
wrapping is done to begin to achieve functionality?

So, when some says that "wrapping DNA to RNA is a good place to start," 
can we have a discreet sample? What would be perfect is a side-by-side 
of the struct DNA from something like a Lamp along with just its RNA 
wrapper. What's needed to get the job done? Are there weird factors we 
need to be aware of (eg. Textures are used in this certain way, so we 
have to wrap them differently), or is this just mostly a mechanical 
procedure we're performing?

(2) A nice, annotated example of tool conversion, if you want help with 
that. Pick one that's been done, show the original code, the new code, 
and give a brief explanation of why it was rewritten in that way. As a 
coder working on tool rewrite, what decisions do we face?

As you can gather, this request is really for some procedural structure 
to the job. The great docs and code that are already there are the data 
-- I (and maybe others) just need a good, annotated example as an actuator.

Thanks!
Roland
harkyman