Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!husc6!geoff
From: geoff@tom.harvard.edu (Geoff Clemm)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Source Code Control
Message-ID: <GEOFF.89Jul4152416@tom.harvard.edu>
Date: 4 Jul 89 19:24:16 GMT
References: <1043@aber-cs.UUCP>
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Organization: Aiken Computation Lab, Harvard University
Lines: 36
In-reply-to: pcg@aber-cs.UUCP's message of 30 Jun 89 14:38:50 GMT

In article <1043@aber-cs.UUCP> pcg@aber-cs.UUCP (Piercarlo Grandi) writes:
   But IMNHO this whole discussion is obviously vitiated by the usual
   unfamiliarity of sw eng types with other fields of compsci. In particular sw
   eng requires a lot of database technology, and database research also
   embodies a lot of sw eng (e.g. data dictionaries, etc...), but I have seen
   very few sw eng people realize that they ought to know about database
   research.

This comment is obviously vitiated by the usual unfamiliarity of Mr Grandi
with the group he is criticizing.  The recent version control activity in
this newsgroup was clearly focussed on how widely available tools can be used
to solve some specific VC problems, thus the emphasis on tools such as RCS
and SCCS, rather than the database supported systems.  When the database
systems are as stable, inexpensive, and generally available as RCS and SCCS,
the discussions will focus on them instead.  Very few sw eng people do _not_
realize that database research is important for improving version control
support, but unlike Mr. Grandi, they realize that providing database support
for version control is a difficult task, and unless they are in the business
of building version control systems, this fact does not help solve their
problems.

   Case in point: temporal databases. I always had this feeling that versioning
   has been studied a lot by temporal database researchers, and it does not
   apply just to databases of sw components.

The fact that there is not a single version control product on the market
based on temporal databases might explain the lack of interest by software
engineers.  Again, Mr Grandi confuse software engineers with the builders of
version control systems.

   It's depressing to see sw eng research groping in the dark because of a
   dilettante approach to databases :-(.

It's depressing to read so much drivel. :-(.

Geoffrey Clemm