Re: [eigen] random thoughts -- we need more Gaels

[Rui Maciel <rui.maciel@xxxxxxxxx>]

Benoit Jacob wrote:
> 2010/10/3 Rui Maciel <rui.maciel@xxxxxxxxx>:
> > Cyrille isn't the only one affectd by this problem.  Countless others,
> > just like Cyrille, have looked into this project's code with the
> > intention to contribute fixes and/or implement new features.
> >  Unfortunately, as this project is terribly developer-unfriendly,
> 
> you can't call Eigen terribly developer-unfriendly, that's not fair.
> It just requires both good c++ templates skills and good math skills,
> which makes a high barried to entry. 

Not quite.  Those who take the time to look into the source code tend to know 
C++ and math.  After all, if they knew nothing about that then they wouldn't 
be interested in a math library written in C++ to begin with, let alone spend 
their time looking into it's source code and contact the mailing list with the 
intent to contribute fixes and/or implement new features.

The main cause for the lack of contributions being made to Eigen is the fact 
that it is unfriendly to developers, in the sense that it imposes a barrier to 
entry which is set needlessly high.  For example, it doesn't provide any 
documentation regarding fundamental stuff such as how the library is organized 
or how to implement new features such as new solvers and/or matrix types, stuff 
which will otherwise take weeks of sifting through the source code just to get 
a general ideal of how things are done.  


> We need to alleviate this with
> more developer documentation. But eigen has good user-level
> documentation, clean code (for those who understand this kind of c++
> patterns), a simple and well documented build system / test framework,
> and very accessible developers. The only thing it lacks is
> developer-oriented docs, many free software projects are farther away
> from being developer-friendly.

That is exactly the point.  If the objective is to attract developers then the 
complete lack of any developer-oriented docs constitutes a massive barrier to 
entry.  If a developer decides that he wants to contribute to Eigen and starts 
investing his time to try to get the feel of how Eigen is organized then he 
will be forced to spend a considerable chunk of his time just to try to figure 
that out.  If we add the fact that a considerable number of source files aren't 
even commented then it becomes clear how frustrating this task quickly 
becomes.  There aren't that many potential developers who are motivated enough 
to endure that level of frustration long enough to be able to find themselves 
in a position to contribute anything to the project.


Rui Maciel