Re: [gsoc] Merging completed tasks to develop branch in upstream repo

From: Mateusz Loskot (mateusz_at_[hidden])
Date: 2019-06-06 17:13:18

On Thu, 6 Jun 2019 at 15:35, stefan <stefan_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> On 2019-06-06 9:10 a.m., Mateusz Loskot wrote:
> >
> > Stefan, on Gitter, I've seen your request to students to prepare PRs
> > to the upstream develop branch.
> >
> > Does it mean you expect partial integration of GSoC work, before
> > actual completion of the whole GSoC period, and the projects?
> > Could you clarify that?
>
> I think in general the sooner we get a completed feature into the
> upstream repo, the better.

Yes, I agree, early and often is a good approach, makes things easier
especially for us.

> In that sense I didn't express an expectation or a request, but a
> suggestion (it's up to you and Miral to decide at what points you have
> features ready to be merged).

I just thought (I'm not as experienced with GSoC as you are) that the procedure
would/should be a bit different, that is:
1. GSoC work receives final acceptance and is merged to a Boost
library at the end.
2. Library maintainers decide it (GSoC is special, there is no need
for Boost (mini)reviews).

> There are a couple of benefits:
> * it reduces the amount of work needed at the end of the project
> * it fosters collaboration, as new features get out "into the wild"
>   sooner, and thus have better visibility

I agree, and those are important benefits.

> Would you prefer a different approach ?

No, your suggestion is sound to me.
The only thing I may be concerned about is situation that we end up
merging to the upstream develop branch incomplete or partial features,
or undocumented features, or untested features.

So, following our chat on Gitter, let's agree that a part of GSoC work is ready
to be submitted as PR against develop in upstream repo, iff:

1. The work is a complete feature.
2. The work includes tests.
3. The work includes at least basic documentation describing
    what a feature does and how to use it.
4. The work has been reviewed and approved
    (i.e. via PR in `BoostGSoC19/gil-{miral,olzhas}` repo).

Best regards,
-- 
Mateusz Loskot, http://mateusz.loskot.net