Hi Xbliters,
Distributing a revision means expanding an application's feature set. The intention is good as long as the new features do not introduce regressions. In software development, good enough is rarely good enough.
To avoid to shoot myself in the foot by drawing my gun too hastily, I perform a last inspection of the released source with a text comparator: WinMerge.
What is WinMerge?
"WinMerge is an Open Source differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle." (website:
http://winmerge.org)
2 usages of WinMerge:
1.Visual check before releasing an application.
I compare a new release with the previous one and it gives me a fresh look on my code changes.
I might even add comment lines for additional information.
2.Change "sand-boxing"
I clone the project to change in a sand-box.
I code my corrections/evolutions.
I compare the original program and my work in progress.
When I modify the application's XBLite source (new.x),
I merge the changes by WinMerging old.x (left) vs new.x (right).
I am doing this for the past 30 years, and it is a simple habbit with a huge payload.
Would you have also some tricks of the trade to share here?
Any trick that I could add to my grab bag of stock answers?
Or tickle our imagination?
Bye! Guy