Knowledge

[JamesBremner]

I feel like I'm missing a lot of background knowledge that the tutorials are assuming I already know. Like how I'd never heard of PATH and thus misunderstood what you were asking me to do.

You make up for it with a positive attitude and a strong work ethic.

You do need to be more cautious. If you do not understand something, stop and ask. Do not bumble on ahead hacking away left and right. While a decently managed repository makes it almost impossible to do permanent damage, it is a pain to back things out and you will only confuse yourself further.

Software engineering is hard.

[JamesBremner]

You wrote:

Also, I do apologize for not following procedures. I'm accustomed to a more exploratory side of things, and all of my instinct and experience is to "just try it and see what happens". It's taking some adjustment to get used to this more strict methodology. I haven't taken formal, technical programming classes; my actual coding experience before now is pretty much entirely self-taught, using JavaScript and XML to automate mathematical constructions and calculations and a bit of HTML and CSS to make it look good. My thought going into this was: "This problem seems like it would be really tedious to solve by hand. Computers were BUILT to solve problems that are too tedious to reasonably do by hand. Can a computer solve this particular problem for me?" I don't know if this will ultimately be easier, but it is at the very least a new experience and not nearly as tedious (so far).

You probably realize "just try it and see what happens" is not how engineers operate. If they did no one would ever dare to cross one of their bridges.

You will have to decide whether you want to be an engineer or an academic.

[JamesBremner]

When you make changes to a file I am also working on, what is the proper way to update my copy with your changes?

This is why you are working in your repo and I am working in mine - just so this cannot happen

When you commit you changes and I pull them any conflicts will be removed.

[ztlawton]

I see. I was trying to pull your changes as I saw them get made so I stayed in sync. I'll stop doing that.

[JamesBremner]

Now that you can do building and testing, thins should become more straightforward.

• Sync your fork
• Pull your repo
• Edit your code
• Test
• Commit
• Post pull request
• ( Take a break )
• Sync you fork
• Pull your repo
• Edit your code
• Test
• Commit
• Post pull request
• ( Take a break )

and so on. Each cycle should take no more than a couple of hours if everything goes well.

[JamesBremner]

Well, I think you can now call yourself a software engineer.

[JamesBremner]

when I open Visual Studio Code, it displays two warnings: "Makefile entry point not found" and "Make not found." Do I need to be concerned about that, since it seems like building and running is working fine?

Please ignore this. This project is not using make.

[JamesBremner]

So, now you have the knack of it, would you like to contribute some more code?

1. Modify the ascii art code to display, instead of 'm' for every module, another character according to the module type.

or, for something more challenging

2. Take over the layout code for one of the workshops that is currently overheating

[ztlawton]

I can try the ASCII art modification later today or tomorrow.

[JamesBremner]

OK, I will create an issue for that.

[JamesBremner]

I forget that issues need to be closed.

Yes indeed.

Ideally no issue should remain open for more than 24 hours. More than 5 days and the project is heading for trouble and will likely fail. Deferred issues can remain open longer, but if there more than 6 deferred issues open then some should be moved off the issue board to some kind of future work planning document.

Currently you have 5 issues assigned to you.

[JamesBremner]

Since you have no knowledge of C++ and I have no knowledge of JavaScript, we are not a good match. Although you have successfully learnt how to collaborate on Github and build C++ applications, an application with well over a 1,000 lines of C++ code is of doubtful use to you since you are unable to maintain it.

So, maybe we should stop and each turn our focus on something more fruitful?

[ztlawton]

How much maintenance would a project like this need? The game is a few years old so the parameters of the structures (like total number, heat production/requirements, and Module requirements) are unlikely to change, and if they do change I think I can handle updating the relevant values.

As far as putting it all together, if you can build something that works for one Workshop/Module to use as a template, I think I can work out how to copy it for the other Workshops/Modules. Like what we did with the initial parameters for the Workshops, after I got the handle of GitHub and building/testing.

[JamesBremner]

The current code "works" for ALL workshops and ALL modules. It is your decision whether you want more optimization to be done.

[ztlawton]

I would like more optimization to be done.

[JamesBremner]

You will need to be more specific. What is your goal?

( I was happy to work on an open ended basis when I expected you to take over at some point. That no longer applies. )

[JamesBremner]

You also need to work a lot more quickly when an issue is assigned to you in test. Currently there are four waiting for you.

[ztlawton]

Sorry, I'm working on this alongside my official job. My goal is to be able to input any Workshop mix, potentially up to 25 in total if mods for the game are taken into account, and get a layout that maximizes productivity while minimizing the number of Modules and Links used. If the number of Modules/Links/nodes required for a layout exceeds the un-modded number available, I want an option to get either the best-un-modded-layout or the best-with-no-limits layout.

[JamesBremner]

I understood that the maximum number of workshops is 12. Fitting 25 into that grid will be a huge challenge

[ztlawton]

There is at least one possible layout for 25 Workshops at maximum productivity without expanding the grid: https://imgur.com/a/HwWgp

If mods are in play, I'd like to be able to figure out if there's a more efficient possibility. Even if mods are out of the picture, I'd like to have the most efficient layout for any given Workshop mix.

[ztlawton]

Clarification: I know that the linked 25-Workshop layout is not optimal, because it includes many redundant Links that don't need to be where they are located. I would consider a layout which used the fewest extra-Links-beyond-what-the-unmodded-game-allows to be better than one that simply allows an infinite number of Links. The same goes for extra Modules.

[JamesBremner]

"If mods are in play." What does this mean?

[JamesBremner]

From now on I will not expect you to do your own build for testing purposes.

I will do an official release which you can test like this:

• Download the latest release from

• Unzip
• Run and test

[ztlawton]

"If mods are in play." What does this mean?

See https://github.com/JamesBremner/workshoplocator/issues/23#issuecomment-1518692594_

[JamesBremner]

All open v1 issues are now assigned to you in test.

[ztlawton]

Just FYI so you don't think I've abandoned this, my computer died on Saturday. I'm taking it to a repair shop to see if it can be fixed or if I need to buy a new one. Apologies for the delay!

[JamesBremner]

Thanks for letting me know

[ztlawton]

I have a functional computer again! Hopefully it stays that way for a few more years.

[JamesBremner]

Just one issue left ( assigned to you in test )

https://github.com/JamesBremner/workshoplocator/milestone/1

[JamesBremner]

v1 is complete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would appreciate it if you would accept my answer to your stack overflow question https://stackoverflow.com/questions/76010189/is-there-a-good-platform-software-language-to-make-a-computer-analyze-this-optim

[JamesBremner]

Thank you!