[Python-Dev] Developer looking to help fix bugs (original) (raw)

"Martin v. Löwis" martin at v.loewis.de
Tue Jul 13 05:48:39 CEST 2004

Mike Mangino wrote:

As such, I am interested fixing and triaging bugs in the sourceforge tracker.

That offer is very welcome!

Earlier today I added a comment to http://www.python.org/sf/982679 to tell the user how to fix the problem they were having (it was a bug in their code, not python) How do I have somebody close that request?

I suggest you maintain a list of bug reports and patches for which you have a proposed action. Post that list to python-dev say, weekly, and somebody will pick it up.

In the specific case, I just closed it.

I look forward to helping out in whatever way I can. I have experience in C, Java, databases and many other languages in addition to an MBA with focus on Finance. My guess is that the C will be most helpful, but who knows.

Personally, I believe patch reviews might help most at this point: take some of the old patches, and evaluate them. Find out whether they do what they say they do, and whether they do it correctly. If they fix a bug, determine whether what they change really is a bug, and whether the fix won't break existing code. Also check whether a test case accompanies the fix. If the patch adds a new feature, determine whether the feature is desirable, and whether it comes with documentation and test cases. Put your analysis as a comment in the patch.

If the submitter is unresponsive, determine whether the patch is worthwhile fixing yourself. If not, add a message indicating that you recommend to reject the patch.

If you have a list of patches that you have reviewed and for which you recommend approval or rejection, post them to python-dev. If I'm the one to execute your proposals, I will check a few reviews in detail in order to establish trust in your analysis, and later bulk-apply changes if your analysis is plausible.

The same would hold for bug reports, except that in cases where a fix is needed, you will have to add a patch to the patches tracker, which would only add to the backlog of unreviewed patches. Of course, if the bug is serious, you might still do so, and post a list of bugs along with the list of your patches (always link bug and patch in comment messages also).

If anyone is in the Chicago area, I would love to buy you a beer and pick your brain.

Thanks for the offer - I'm on a different continent, unfortunately.

Regards, Martin

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