GIT: Accented Characters in Filenames

If you are using file names with non-ASCII characters in them, then Git will sometimes behave funny.  There are some commands to know about.

Git Branching

I found a lot of the documentation is incomplete and only useful to those who already know how to do it.  Plus, they usually are based on unrealistic scenarios.  Here are the notes that are useful to me to make and control branches.

The Urge to Merge

Concurrent development of software in a team relies on being able to merge the changes from each person successfully.  Experienced developers will already know this, but there are theoretical limits on how effective merging can be.

Lots of Folders != Project more Organized

Making a development project with lots of folders does not mean that the project is more organized.  However, there is a seemingly irresistible desire to make a folder for every possible purpose, and then put the one or two files that fit in there, all in the name of keeping the project organized.  This might make the programmer feel good, but it is a large pain for anyone new who has to join the project or review the source for any reason.

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Avoid Unnecessary Conditional Nesting

Simply put: try to make your conditions as flat as possible.  This makes them generally easier for the humans to parse and understand. 

Counting Source Lines

I rarely count the number of lines of source — but here is a quick script to do it.

SVN Essentials 2

Most of what a developer needs to know about SVN is covered in SVN Essentials.   However, if you are a project lead, and responsible for a project with multiple releases, you might need to also knows these details about branching and tagging.

Always use a brace even if not needed

In C, C++, Java, and other languages, you use curley-braces — ‘{‘ and ‘}’ — to indicate the start and the end of a block of code.  However, the braces are optional if the block is only a single line.  This is an option you should never use.  Always use the brace, even if it is a single line.

Essential CVS

I wrote up these cheat notes about 10 years ago, and I still use them today.  Just a short, brief, introductory instructions to using the CVS source management system.  Essentials that you need to get started.

#18 Don’t use TAB Characters

An age-old debate that should not exist.  Tabs are evil.  It is an attractive idea, but poorly implemented, non standardized, unpredictable handling, and so this post enumerates the ways that their cost far outweighs their benefits.