Is it 'fun' to build a CMS like REVO?

Was wondering .. if it’s ’fun’ to build a CMS like REVO?

Or does the task fall more under the heading of ’work’ or ’frustration’?

What is the coolest part of building a CMS like REVO? Certainly you’ve heard all the accolades around the web about how COOL it is (especially being ’flexible’). That must generate a measure of satisfaction, no?

What’s the worse part? Does the coding ever become a drudgery?

Quote from: xeeter at Jan 26, 2010, 09:28 PM

Was wondering .. if it’s ’fun’ to build a CMS like REVO?

Yes, incredibly.

Or does the task fall more under the heading of ’work’ or ’frustration’?

I would say that programming in general can be both; challenging problems should at points be frustrating - otherwise they’re not challenging enough. What we’re trying to do with Revo is challenging, and at times frustrating, but that doesn’t mean we hate doing it. I love developing MODx Revolution, even when it hurts.

What is the coolest part of building a CMS like REVO?

The thought that "No one has done something like this in open source" before. Always fun to think that. Another one of my favorite things to do is to envision what 2.1, 2.2 and 3.0 will be like, now that we’ve got a solid framework base in Revolution.

But mainly, I really enjoy creating something in anticipation of seeing what people do with it. I hope that the most amazing things done with Revolution will not be what the core team creates.

Certainly you’ve heard all the accolades around the web about how COOL it is (especially being ’flexible’). That must generate a measure of satisfaction, no?

"The praises of others may be of use in teaching us, not what we are, but what we ought to be." - Augustus William Hare

What’s the worse part? Does the coding ever become a drudgery?

When I have to deal with IE issues.

I can’t claim to be a core developer, but the work I do on MODx is almost always a tremendous amount of fun (it better be, since I don’t get paid for it).

The worst part is hunting down hard-to-find errors, but even that can be fun assuming that you eventually find them. I just spent longer than I care to admit testing the new version of the Formit snippet because I had &smtpUserName as a parameter instead of $smtpUsername.

TBH, one of the most satisfying things for me is just admiring the code that OpenGeek and splittingred have created. I’ve been looking at code for many, many years and Revolution contains, by far, the most elegant production code I’ve ever seen. Bear in mind that Revo contains thousands of files that 99.9% of the time work together perfectly. For someone who appreciates world-class coding, just reading it is like watching an Olympic figure skater.

It’s immensely satisfying to play even a small role in helping to develop and test it. The fact that real-world web developers, without breaking a sweat, will be able to do things with it that have never been done before is just icing on the cake.

Like splittingred, I look forward to seeing what others will do with Revolution. I don’t think most people have any idea yet how powerful Transport Packages and Custom Manager Pages will be down the road. If you look at all the custom apps out there for business and education (e.g. software for class scheduling, college web sites, courseware, auto repair shops, real estate offices, art galleries, RV parks, bridal registries, etc. etc.), all will be doable in Revolution as Transport Packages that will be infinitely easier to build, extend, use, and maintain than the current offerings.

Thanks for your comments. Two things stood out:

1. Never been done before in open source.

I didn’t know REVO was at that level. I mean, I knew it was cool .. but this comment puts it in a league of its own.

2. World-class coding.

I could tell from perusing OpenGeek’s site that he was (is) a wizard of sorts, a coding demigod, but I didn’t know that level of wizardry extended to the entire REVO package. I’ve always enjoyed working with competent professionals who take pride in their work .. no matter WHAT the job was.

Your comments regarding what people will DO with this app reinforces the need to quality documenation .. a book .. even videos. So that REVO’s capabiliiies are presented to those who might not be so wizardly.

Over at Lynda.com they have many videos on many topics that contain the following 3-step format:

1. First video series >> "Essential Training" (Basic intro .. things spelled out in detail. Nothing taken for granted.)
2. Second video series >> "Beyond the Basics" (Builds on Basic concepts .. introduces advaced concepts)
3. Third video series >> "Advanced" (Full-on wizardry)

Each series is broken down into separate videos that are bite-sized, task-oriented chunks.

I know this is premature with REVO still in beta .. not even at RC. But cool remote mountain ski-towns like Aspen and Telluride begin growing soon as they get an airport. Until then, no matter how cool, they stay relatively small. And a good book or video series would be like an airport, making it accessible to to a large number of people. Dupal has Lullabot. (Drupal is big, even tho it’s complicated.)

Bob is in the process of writing a Revo book...
Watch for it!!!

Quote from: BobRay at Jan 27, 2010, 12:11 AM

TBH, one of the most satisfying things for me is just admiring the code that OpenGeek and splittingred have created. I’ve been looking at code for many, many years and Revolution contains, by far, the most elegant production code I’ve ever seen. Bear in mind that Revo contains thousands of files that 99.9% of the time work together perfectly. For someone who appreciates world-class coding, just reading it is like watching an Olympic figure skater.

I don’t know what to say BobRay. (blush). Maybe I’ll just say thank you for the amazing compliment and return to coding with this incredible inspiration you’ve given me. At the same time, I have to give kudos to splittingred for the invaluable feedback and the outstanding job he’s done with the amazing new manager interface. I can’t imagine a more difficult job than trying to intuit all of the functionality and flexibility I intended to build into the Revolution (and xPDO) core, and creating a usable interface from that. And BobRay also deserves kudos for the incredible job he’s done making us document and explain the new framework; his contributions are invaluable to the project.

Quote from: xeeter at Jan 27, 2010, 01:02 AM

But cool remote mountain ski-towns like Aspen and Telluride begin growing soon as they get an airport. Until then, no matter how cool, they stay relatively small. And a good book or video series would be like an airport, making it accessible to to a large number of people. Dupal has Lullabot. (Drupal is big, even tho it’s complicated.)

Well, I moved to a cool remote mountain ski-town (Taos, NM) precisely because it was relatively small, but you are absolutely right about good documentation/instructional videos being the critical piece to help increase accessibility of the software. As long as I don’t write or star in them. Ask BobRay and splittingred; it would not be very helpful.