spir wrote: > On 03/09/2011 01:21 AM, Jens Mueller wrote: > >%u wrote: > >>>I just submitted an application for GSoC 2011 on behalf of Digital > >>Mars. Please review and contribute to the project ideas page: > >>>http://prowiki.org/wiki4d/wiki.cgi?GSOC_2011_Ideas > >>>Thanks, > >>>Andrei > >> > >>Uh... how helping fix compiler bugs? Could we help with that? I feel > >>that's *much* more important than benchmarking, for instance, since it > >>doesn't make sense to benchmark something if it has bugs. :\ > > > >I have the same feeling. I'd like to see such projects. But I believe > >students are more likely to pick feature-oriented projects. The stuff > >that sounds cool. Compare: I implemented a Garbage Collector for D that > >improved performance dramatically vs. I fixed bugs in the compiler. > >I do not think that fixing bugs is less demanding. Actually I do believe > >it's more difficult and it is fun. You know the feeling, when you > >finally understand what's the cause of the problem and when you know how > >to fix it properly. > >Do you have an idea for packaging fixing bugs in a way that makes it > >look more interesting? > > The real issue, I guess, is that fixing bugs (efficiently) require > getting an intimate knowledge of the app.
That is true. But I believe there are students who are amazingly good at this. Further there is always the mentor who can give advice and of course the community. If %u really likes fixing bugs and has enough time over summer he/she should submit it as a project. To attract more students for this kind of work one needs a good project description. That is what I find difficult. Jens