FS Software Process, Development, and Quality

[toprob]

I've always thought of FSDeveloper as the 'base' repository of all things FS, it always amazes me what I can find here. Ok, you do need to search a bit to find what you need, but to me this is a better way than a simple how-to.

The wiki here is a bit under-utilised, but the basics are there.

Here's just a few thoughts which have crossed my mind when reading this thread:

Most developers come to this from different directions, through different needs. I don't think that anyone plans the jump from early dabbler through to serious developer, this just happens, and is normally directed by their particular requirements -- which may vary a lot from other developers. I started out wanted to improve the scenery for New Zealand, and that's still my goal, so working towards a global goal is of no interest to me.

One thing I've talked about before is the desire to learn new things. I wouldn't want too many people like that collaborating together, though, as it wastes a lot of time. So my way isn't the best way, but it suits me, and I wouldn't do this if I couldn't suit me. I'd be doing something which pays a lot better.

To create an 'industry' means following every other industry -- which means drones to do the actual work. I've never met a developer who would be happy to be a drone!

I like to do things my way, and be self-sufficient, which is why I chose to support myself designing scenery. Ok, it didn't quite work out great, with a couple of hard years with health issues, but it still suits me.

I'm aware that a lot of budding developers are looking for the easy way, but like anything, there is none. My original tutorials were designed to get people using GMAX without worrying about 99% of its features, but those who eventually went on to create great stuff actually learn the other 99% themselves, over a long time, which is pretty much what beginners don't want to know. I really had to trick people into thinking it was easy, and those who got hooked did the rest.

So back to the original post:

So, here's my point: why does the development community for Flight Simulator still generally lack common traditions of software development? Why do we not have a more unified process model and why do we lack easily-adopted practices and standards?

I think that developers do generally use the same techniques, subject to:
a) new developers tend to like to do things simpler, so they look at other tools, such as Sketchup.
b) the 'best' techniques depend on the resources you start with, which can vary a lot. Forcing every development along the same path doesn't allow for any 'artistic license', or any other creativity, for that matter.

Are we so small and insignificant that we can't develop the critical mass required for cohesion? Are we so born of craft methods that a wider tradition isn't possible?

Yes, pretty much, considering that another side of this is the actual organisation -- a lot of developers require the freedom to do things their own way, which doesn't leave a lot to band together.

We have a platform to populate an entire world out there in the software "ecosystem" that is FSX and I feel like what's available only scratches the surface. Would maturing our processes help? Or, do we have the best possible environments and frameworks now?

As I said, FSDeveloper is the ideal environment, it already contains much a greater knowledge base than I would ever have imagined, and still manages to encourage creativity and experimentation.

 

[Swan-UK]

This is a truly important issue that deserves attention and discussion.

In my opinion, one of the main problems is the lack of centralized leadership or organization that would coordinate the efforts of developers and set common standards. This leads to fragmentation of information and the lack of a unified approach to development.

To improve the situation, it may be worth looking at examples of successful developer communities such as Linux and trying to learn from their methods of collaboration and information sharing. It is also important to encourage initiatives to create training materials and guides that would help newbies better understand the development process and use the available tools more effectively.

I hope that together we can move forward and make application development for Flight Simulator more structured and efficient.

Have you joined to respond to a 12 year old thread? pretty sure times have changed since then!