[PyLadies-BLR] getting started with NVDA.

[svaksha]

On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 3:00 PM, svaksha <svaksha at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Sunita,
>
> As we saw today, the NVDA trac wiki does not provide a straightforward
> bugs list, so I was trying out a few permutations and combinations for
> you:
> * http://community.nvda-project.org/query?status=!closed&version=2013.3&order=status
> * http://community.nvda-project.org/query?status=!closed&version=2013.3&order=status
> * http://community.nvda-project.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=incubating&status=new&status=reopened&version=master&order=status
> * http://community.nvda-project.org/query?group=status&milestone=2014.1
> (<-- Personally. I like their YYYY.M versioning system.)
>
> Not sure why the nvda trac wiki makes it harder to view the bugs, so
> the easiest way to check for existing bugs is to use the filter system
> as custom queries on trac.
>
> The goals page (http://community.nvda-project.org/wiki/FutureGoals)
> lists a requirement for an automated system testing framework:
> http://community.nvda-project.org/ticket/708. And, there was also a
> nice developer guide tucked away in one of the wiki pages:
> http://community.nvda-project.org/documentation/developerGuide.html
>
> Next, I hopped on to their irc channel and mentioned that you wanted
> to contribute code and they were the most helpful core-devs (I told
> you so :P) and I'm paraphrasing the suggestions below:
>
> * http://community.nvda-project.org/query?status=accepted&status=assigned&status=new&status=reopened&max=3000&order=priority
> * They ack that the codebase is large and overwhelming and not many
> other than the core developers have a full understanding of the full
> codebase, BUT it is not expected either :)  So if you (as a user) can
> find a niche within the code that you'd like improved, its a good
> start. To quote, "best is to pick an application that the person feels
> nvda's support is lacking on, or needs improving somehow, and write an
> appmodule or simular to slowly getting to know the environment".
> </quote>
> * I had asked what the "incubating" filter on trac was used for - that
> is for code that has been accepted and is under alpha testing, but is
> expected to move to beta shortly. </quote>
> * If you find the above overwelming, they have asked you to join the
> addon mailing list, and help by reviewing or just reading other
> peoples addons to get an understanding. To quote, "Addons are much
> easier to comprahend, because it is easy to see where the borders are.
> with the core nvda, its hard to get a grasp of what is responsible for
> what behaviour, but with the addons because the function depth, and
> the total number of functions are much smaller, it is much better
> environment to getting to know how things are done, and to experiment
> and see actual results" </quote>.
> * Their irc channel has a handful of core-devs and is not publicly logged.
>
> I'm hoping the above helps you get started.

A quick update:

Nirmita emailed me regarding pyladies being interested in working on
the NVDA development project. The two Indian core-dev's are Manish and
Vardhan from Hyderabad and are open to the idea of doing a hands-on
weekend workshop/training session.

I've requested them to subscribe to this list so that we can take this
forward. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on what you'd like
to be covered in the workshop. Some suggestions:
- talk a bit about the NVDA project and how newbies can get started,
- basics of the NVDA codebase,
- the apps and how to start contributing to them,
- how to process tiny bugs and which parts of the codebase they should
look at, etc..

Before the workshop itself, I was wondering if there needs to be a
short session on the Foss ecosystem tools - namely git, trac, irc,
etc..? Do you need it or is everyone ok with a direct dive into the
codebase? Your responses will help them decide how to structure the
workshop, so dont feel shy about asking for help.

॥ svaksha ॥ http://svaksha.com