[josm-dev] Spaghetti code

[Raphael Mack]

Hi,

I think I should also tell my story, since it somehow fits into this
dicussion.

Let me first say, that I really like Frederiks pragmatism. - History has
shown, that the approach works and JOSM is a really useful tool. I have
seen, that JOSM development is open for new ideas and new styles.

That said, a few words about mine. I know a bit of Java and Software
Engineering and even have (may be had) an svn account for the josm repo.
The feature I ever missed in JOSM was to be able to select gpx points
and delete some of them from a track, before uploading it to the OSM
server directly from JOSM.
I wanted to implement this in a way, that satisfies me. But it came
differently. I tried hard, two or three times last year, but gradually
changing the design to be able to select every thing (OSM primitives,
GpxPoints, Markers, OpenStreeBugs, ...) that is on the map in JOSM (on
one layer); without braking things like the selection dialog or
essential editing features was not possible for me. It would have been a
big change, and I was not able to keep up with the changes of other
people in the repo and get my rework done. Of course I did not invest my
full work force but OSM is still one of many hobbies...

_Maybe_, cleaning up the design, before trying to implement a new
feature would have been simpler. Even though (or because) the only
benefit would have been a cleaner design. - In my eyes it still needs a
major rework of the design to implement selection cleanly. But you may
show me - and all others who are interested in selecting other things
than OSM primitives - that the approach of small changes without "design
cleanup" before can bring such new functionality. Whether it satisfies
my personal demands for code quality doesn't matter anymore, since I am
not the one to do it.

You may think, that I am one of those guys which cry loudly "If you do
not change ... I go away" and do not contribute anything useful. To be
honest, you did not get me completly wrong. But actually it's not that I
did not try to work with the approch, Frederik is preaching. It just,
that I failed, mabe because I dd not fit into this approach.

But hey, I still like your work and am glad, that you care about JOSM.
It's just me, who does not contribute to JOSM anymore.

Cheers,
Rapha