10.Stack

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• Which of the five tasks were you able to complete successfully? If you were unable to complete them all, why not?

• Luckily, I was able to complete the five tasks successfully. However, "Task 4: Add support for the JavaNCSS static analysis tool to your project" took me hours to complete, because I had a hard time to create the javancss.build.xml even though I was looking at the other *.build.xml. The other tasks were pretty straightforward, because I was able to find solutions from the reports, eclipse, and Google.

• What problems did you run into, and how did you resolve them?

• Most of time I resolved the problems by looking for the solutions from the Ant, Checkstyle, JUnit, PMD, FindBugs, SCLC, and Emma home page , checking the error reports or searching online. The problems that I remember the most are:

• When I invoked the "ant -f sclc.build.xml", it failed and generated an error message about Perl. Then, I found out I had to download and install Perl from the SCLC home page.

• I did encounter some warnings when I invoked the "ant -f verify.build.xml". Since the Ant would list where the errors were, I was able to invoke the Ant command with the specified warnings to generate the error report. Hence, I could easily know where to check and fix the problems.

• When I created the javancss.build.xml file, I ran into several problems. First, I opened the other *.build.xml files and read them. Second, I started to generate the javancss.build.xml file by coping and renaming what was in the pmd.build.xml file. I still encountered some problems when I tried to test the command "ant -f javancss.build.xml. Then, I discussed with my team member. I found that we both had the same problem, so we decided to read what was available at JavaNCSS Ant Task and also searched online. Finally, we resolved the problems.
  

• What is your impression of Ant?

• First, it reminds me of the "Make" experience that I have learned in ICS212.
• My impression of Ant is to save time on compiling. We have to create a file with all the involved property names and import files in it. Then, we only have to invoke one line of code to run through what is needed to be compiled. Ant will tell us what goes wrong, then we will be able to fix the errors in an efficient time.
  

• Are there standards that we are using that you do not understand the motivation for?

• After completing all the tasks, I have gained more understanding with Ant, JUnit, PMD, FindBugs, Checkstyle, SCLC, and Emma. I also realized why I need these tools. These tools provide programmers with a clear error report, then programmers can easily follow and fix the error.
  

• What is the difference between SCLC and JavaNCSS, and which counting tool do u prefer?

• After I ran both "ant -f javancss.build.xml" and "ant -f sclc.build.xml", I found out that the javancss generated a "JavaNCSS Analysis" html page and the sclc only showed the report on the console. While JavaNCSS is focusing more on packages, objects, functions, and Javadoc, sclc focuses on lines, blank lines, comments, NCSL, and TPtoks. It seems to me that the format of the JavaNCSS analysis report is more user friendly. Since JavaNCSS focuses more on packages, objects, functions, and Javadoc, therefore I believe these are what I need to know as a programmer. I will prefer JavaNCSS to be my counting tool.