General Discussion

[Kshitiz_Indian]

If that's the case, then I'm afraid but I wouldn't be able to work on the GUI I think, because my knowledge about XML and WPF is totally zero!

 

[Harrypotter_fan]

It is not hard at all. I learned it in about 3-4 hrs a year ago. Give it a shot. I actually find it better and easier than WinForms.

 

[sohum]

Since I'm on a cell phone right now I won't quote anything. Here are a few answers, anyway.

1. I have stopped keeping up the list for testing. I will ask for testers once we have something to test. Also, w3lshrugby will probably be handling the testing plan.

2. XAML is not at all hard to pick up. In fact, it is much more intuitive, imo, than WinForms. It also has better performance most of the time. You can also get an external tool such as Expression Design (I think) that will allow you to develop UI completely separate from code.

sohummisra added 41 Minutes and 54 Seconds later...

Here are two interesting articles about WPF:

Introducing WPF
Programming WPF Applications

More relevant articles can be found here.

 

[Harrypotter_fan]

Actually that tool is Expression Blend.

 

[sohum]

Actually that tool is Expression Blend.

Yeah. I didn't remember which one because I just got Expression Studio from my school.

sohummisra added 21 Minutes and 44 Seconds later...

Based on people's interest, I have come up with the following responsibilities/teams:

Simulation Engine - on the backburner for now but everyone will work on it
Backend - sohummisra (team leader), Abhas
Statistics - Kshitiz_Indian (team leader), Abhas, Harrypotter_fan
UI - Harrypotter_fan (team leader), Kshitiz_Indian, pal
Fixture Engine - sohummisra (team leader), pal

Let me know if you are unhappy with the organization.

I will come up with the responsibilities of each team later today. The three important stages will be design, implementation and coding. Approval of the entire feature team will be required at any given stage before proceeding to the next stage. I will come up with concrete requirements for each component, as I said earlier, later today.

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Woudn't the backend be needed before Statistic storing in the DB? Because from what I've picked up about DB's in this thread, the backend will make accessing it easier like a class, isn't it?

 

[Abhas]

I'm Happy with Backend and Stats.

Good luck everyone

 

[sohum]

I would suggest that each team leader open a thread for their particular component so that discussion for that particular component can be organized there. Team leaders, also keep in mind that everyone is in at least two teams. Use these people when you need to communicate between teams!

 

[Insomniac]

Shouldn't you get a sub-forum for this?

Would be easier to keep track of whats going on and all

 

[sohum]

Woudn't the backend be needed before Statistic storing in the DB? Because from what I've picked up about DB's in this thread, the backend will make accessing it easier like a class, isn't it?

See the magic about using the object mapping is that it runs as a separate process. Hence, the persistence of an object isn't tied in to its behavior. So, considering a not well-thought out API, this would be possible without any DB support whatsoever:

Match m = MatchFactory.Create(); // assume that match creates its own scorecard
Player p = Player.Load(id);
BattingInning bi = m.Scorecard.CreateBattingInning(p);
bi.Runs = 100;
bi.BallsFaced = 150;

StatisticsEngine sc = new StatisticsEngine();
sc.ProcessScorecard(m.Scorecard);

So, the data would be valid since it would be stored in memory. There would be no persistence from one run to another, so you would need some sort of testing harness to be able to test things such as records and such. Basically, you would end up having to call a StatisticsEngine.Save() or something of that sort to save the data to the DB.

With that said, I have already started work on Backend, which you can see if you check out the repository. I will be touching base with Abhas later to figure more things out.

And here is the feature list (beware, it is long). If I were you, I would start a thread up (as a team leader) with the relevant data from the list below.

Backend Team
Design
- Database design
- Object Relational Mapping tool to use
- Abstraction layer for database
- Objects that will be persisted and an associative diagram
- Class/interface diagram describing interaction
- Initialization/accessor methods
- Brainstorm API
- Describe exception list

Implementation
- Discuss with other teams the requirements for each object
- Setup relevant databases
- Implement the code in the Backend project
- Implement relevant code for ORM

Testing
- Test with remote database
- Test with local database
- Test CRUD operations
- Test associations with primitive properties
- Test associations with persistent object properties

UI Team
Design
- Brainstorm with end+users the functions of the UI
- Develop a list of all the functions that will be possible through the UI and their organization (menu, button, etc.)
- Provide a plan for abstracting output
- Provide class/interface or block diagram
- Provide mock+ups/screenshots of UI design (Paint/Photoshop/Word)
- Come up with a design for Match and Tournament objects with the Backend team to streamline communication between UI and SimEngine
- Communicate with Statistics team to determine the behavior of the query engine in terms of UI
- Design the live output UI (probably a PHP page that refreshes and pulls latest data from a MySQL db)
- Communicate with other teams about exception handling

Implementation
- Implement the code in the UI project

Testing
- Test out all functions from the Design list
- Test with extreme inputs (Double.MAX_VALUE and the like)
- Test out with beta users

Statistics Team
Design
- Come up with a list of all records that will be stored
- Come up with a design for Statistics objects (that will be persisted) along with the Backend team
o Must separate FC, OD, Twenty20 stats
o Must separate International, Domestic stats
o Think about granularity when storing data (ball+by+ball vs. innings+by+innings vs. aggregate) and caching options
- Develop a design for query engine similar to StatsGuru but nowhere near as detailed
- Develop an intuitive API to fetch statistics... for example Player.Statistics.GetBattingAverage(Match.Types.FC, Match.Leagues.International) versus Player.GetTestBattingAverage() to get Test average
- Class/interface diagram of system
- Describe exception list
- Develop an API that will be used to update statistics (probably based off a Scorecard object -- discuss with Backend team)

Implementation
- Implement the design in the StatisticsEngine project

Testing
- Test engine with randomized data
- Test query engine with all possible queries
- Test queries that don't make sense, for example getting average over an impossible period
- Ensure that system works without the need for real data (should be completely modularized)

Fixture Team
Design
- Come up with XML specification to store the fixture lists
- Decide a XML parser that will be used to navigate the XML
- Class/interface diagram
- Come up with a list of all the provided fixtures
- Brainstorm design of Tournament and Match classes with UI and Backend teams
- Describe exception list

Implementation
- Design parser that converts parsed XML into appropriate objects and constructs them
- Write the default XML
- Write a guide of how to use the XML with examples for end-users

Testing
- Test with Backend team that constructed objects are correct
- Test with valid XML
- Test with invalid XML
- Test tournament details being computed correctly for each fixture type

sohummisra added 51 Minutes and 21 Seconds later...

Shouldn't you get a sub-forum for this?

Would be easier to keep track of whats going on and all

That would be nice.

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

I've finally installed Tortoise SVN and got the files. Now I want to know what to do in it lol, I mean, if the Backend isn't ready, what all components can I work on now? Sohum, could we have you on MSN or Yahoo or something? Would make it much easier!

I'm looking to start a statistics team thread but I'm waiting if there's a new subforum. It would get lost in the current sub forum lol.

 

[sohum]

I've finally installed Tortoise SVN and got the files. Now I want to know what to do in it lol, I mean, if the Backend isn't ready, what all components can I work on now? Sohum, could we have you on MSN or Yahoo or something? Would make it much easier!

I'm looking to start a statistics team thread but I'm waiting if there's a new subforum. It would get lost in the current sub forum lol.

There's plenty to do. I would suggest (for the third time, haha) that you start a Statistics thread (I haven't checked if you have done it already) to start getting the input from your team. It does not matter about the subforum since threads can be moved pretty easily if a subforum does come into existence.

As for MSN, I am only online when I'm at home and even then not so much because my connection is finicky. I don't use Yahoo!. I will PM you my MSN anyway.

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Cheers, and yes, I'll start a thread right away!

 

[Abhas]

Kshitiz, If you're not in school, MSN

Abhas added 0 Minutes and 58 Seconds later...

Sohum, what DB have we finalized?

 

[Gilly Fan]

It would be great if this made the fixtures for you, instead of saving the work of having to make a fixture.