Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 13:20:55 -0800 (PST) From: Deborah Frincke <frincke@cs.uidaho.edu> To: cary8741@cs.uidaho.edu Cc: Deborah Frincke <frincke@cs.uidaho.edu> Subject: Final Beta comments Here are some comments I have on the beta CCA distribution file. It is an interesting tool; I'd like a copy of the final version when that becomes available. Please feel free to ask for clarification of my comments (below) or additional feedback. Thanks, Deb ---------------------------------------------------- EASE OF INSTALLATION High marks here. It took just a couple of minutes to get something up and running. Three minor points: 1) You might consider adding a test harness that would run a known test file and compare the actual results with expected results. This could be used to show that installation was successful and that all features are working as needed; it would also be useful if someone wanted to be certain that newly added features hadn't broken old features. 2) I like Makefiles that allow me to configure environment variables, such as the location of the source, target/install location of the binaries, location of Perl, etc. 3) You might also consider having the tar file include an (empty) bin directory to hold the executable, and a "tests" or "data" directory to hold input files. (This is a minor nit---it took less time to do this by hand than to write about it). LEARNING CURVE The sample execution, key.ps, and man page comments were handy. I was able to use it immediately. The only error I made was in trying to use wildcards with the "-f" option (I didn't think it would work anyway). Before the tool is distributed widely, it would be useful to have a short discussion of sample results and their interpretation. For example, it would have been nice to have a few test cases of C code included with the documentation, along with a printout showing the results and an *interpretation* of those results. ONLINE HELP, DOCUMENTATION This was sufficient to get the program working without much difficulty. The "-h" option provided the typical Unix summary of flags. Although I prefer the longer output that gives a flag along with a one line summary, in your case that might prove overly lengthy. If I were your customer I'd request a "verbose help" in addition to the standard :) BTW: I was glad to see that you added the following for invalid parameters: lemhi 89: ./cca -j Invalid or out of context flag "j". Type "./cca -h" for command usage. I liked the Summary report; the succinct description of the options was handy.