ITK/Procedure for Contributing Bug Fixes
The Sad Truth
Most bugs are introduced as secondary effects from attempts to fix other bugs
This procedure is intended to prevent such secondary effects from happening.
Steps
Enter a bug report
Add a test if necessary
When a bug is found, the following questions should be raised
Why wasn't it found before?
The most likely answer is that we were missing a test for the specific case in which the bug is visible. In other words, the bug passed unnoticed due to the lack of testing some special case.
Therefore a test for that specific case must be added, before attempting to fix the bug. This test will ensure that once the test is fixed, it will never reappear without being noticed.
As soon as the test is added, it will be failing, showing that the test actually detects the problem.
Fix the code in your local build
Modify the code of your local build until the new test is passing.
Submit an experimental build
This is necessary for detecting secondary effects that may result from the code fixes.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to anticipate secondary effects. The code modifications that seem to be the most innocuous, commonly result in plenty of secondary effects. Do not rely on your "mental compilation" skills. The only way to verify that the "code fix" doesn't break something else is to actually run a full Experimental build.
Verify that the code changes do not produce any compilation problems, or make any other tests fail.
Commit the code to CVS
6) Go to the bug report, and insert as comment
the WebCVS link to the commit.
7) Wait for several continous builds to verify that
the problems was fixed also in other platforms, and that the code fix doesn't produce compilation or link problems in other platforms (e.g. SGI, Borland, VS6,7,8, Icc 8,9, builds with shared libraries, and builds with Tcl, Python and Java wrapping.
8) A full coverage of platforms may require to wait
until the next day to see all the Nightly submissions.
9) If the Nightly tests are clean (as far as this commit is
concerned) then close the bug, and mark it as fixed.
