Android 2.0.5.1 and App Engine 2.0.5.1 Graduating

[Paddy Foran]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick email to let you all know that the 2.0.5.1 versions of the Android client and App Engine server are both graduating from beta tonight. They'll be rolled out to everyone in about an hour and a half, when the maintenance on App Engine concludes.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for your help with the testing process. You guys are great. I know these betas had no new features and didn't *really* fix bugs that influenced you, but I appreciate everyone taking the time to test the mechanisms that will help keep our servers online (cheaper servers and optional ads).

I currently have a 2.1 beta scheduled for May 6th, the weekend before Google I/O. I'm pretty embarrassed to say this, but I have a feeling I'll be missing that self-imposed deadline. I'm working hard on a bit of client work, and I'm trying to power through it so that I can have a prototype on Monday or Tuesday. Which leaves me a couple of weeks to do a massive rewrite of the system. Which is possible, but I don't think it's particularly likely, when you consider my schoolwork as well.

In case anyone's interested, 2.1 is a major rewrite in the sense that it offers a complete API, with modules. This will make adding a Firefox extension simple, and will make it much easier to maintain, debug, and add to this project. I've done most the thinking, planning, and documenting for it already-- you can find the docs at http://wiki.2cloudproject.com/API/Modules, mostly. Implementing it should be easy, and I'll try to have it accomplished by Google I/O, but I can't promise anything. After 2.0, I'm not going to rush anything. I will, however, get the opportunity to speak to Moishe Lettvin (the Google Engineer who has kind of adopted us, and who is my contact for the issues we're experiencing with the Channel API) at Google I/O, face to face. Which is always nice.

I say I'm writing a quick email, and five paragraphs later I'm rambling. Sorry. Anyways, thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Paddy

[Mark Powell]

Thanks for the update, have fun at Google I/O.

Mark Powell
Twitter @BodyMarks

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4GLTE Thunderbolt

[Ahmed Al-Sudani]

Paddy,

Congratulations on the successful beta. This has got to be one of the smoothest beta tests I participate in.

"These betas "didn't *really* fix bugs that influenced you?" You are very mistaken. I am truly pumped by having silent sending back -- it is, I would say, my favorite feature of the Android app.

Moving to an API-based system is an exciting leap. I hope you will be able to rewrite the system before May 6.

One thing I will ask of you is to create a flowchart of how the server, the client, and the authentication server will interact under the planned model (even if it would only be a preliminary one). I imagine this would make concurrent development a lot easier.

Every time I send a link, it will take one less step, and I will thank you :)

Thanks a lot Paddy,

Ahmed

[Ahmed Al-Sudani]

Paddy,

Sorry, I forgot to mention something. The flowchart I'm asking you for does not have to show everything that happens to events, only the order in which different steps are taken. e.g send keys -> receive response -> send event -> receive response, etc. 

I apologize, I should have included this earlier.

Thanks,

Ahmed

[Paddy Foran]

Ahmed,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad we could fix that for you- I had forgotten about it when I wrote the email. :)

The flow charts are a good idea. They're actually how I started the API process- my crude, hand-drawn charts are why helped me give the system a cohesive form. I'll be working with Dylan to get them turned into the images that will serve as our documentation. Our documentation right now is really just my game-plan-- I wrote up the docs I linked you to get all the hard thinking out of the way, so I could break the project apart into manageable pieces.

I'd love any comments or feedback on the API and project you have (really! It's my first time writing an API, and I can use all the feedback I can get), but the 2cloud-dev mailing list is probably a better location for this discussion, so we don't annoy the other beta testers. :)

Thanks for your enthusiasm, though. I really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Paddy