On bug fixes, new features and the road map

[fbascheper]

Hi,

Now that the date set for 1.5.1 (2 May 2008) is imminent, and the road map for 1.5.1 is becoming larger instead of smaller, I am getting a bit concerned that bug fixes are strangling the advent of new features.

A couple of popular issues (mainly SWS-287 and SWS-157) have been postponed several times now, despite the fact that patches were provided for them. It would be nice to see them included in 1.5.1 and not postponed again.

Note: another of my personal favorites for inclusion in an upcoming release would be SWS-302. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Many thanks & kind regards,

Erik-Berndt

[Arjen Poutsma]

With 1.5.1, my main focus is to solve all outstanding bugs. There were a couple in 1.5.0, and I plan to fix those in 1.5.1.

Now that most bugs are solved, I can start looking at improvements, such as SWS-287. Note, however, that it's not as simple as to apply a patch, and be done with it. I have to make sure that the end result is something that works for all people, not just the person who submitted the patch. Also, I have to feel comfortable supporting that code, because that's my job.

To be clear: not that I don't appreciate patches; I love them . Keep them coming! It's just that it takes time to look at them.

[Arjen Poutsma]

Just to give an example as to why is not as simple as it looks: the patch submitted for SWS-208 only works for Castor 1.2, not for version 1.1. So there are four options:

• Keep things as they are, only supporting Castor 1.1
• Change the CastorMarshaller as per the patch, thus forcing everybody to upgrade to 1.2
• Create a separate Castor12Marshaller for 1.2, and leave the CastorMarshaller for 1.1
• Do some nasty reflective checks to detect 1.1 vs. 1.2, and use the appropriate API

I'm currently leaning towards the last options, because that has the least impact for existing users.