more/formal_review_process.htm
Beman Dawes 391fca13e8 Minor clarifications
[SVN r11484]
2001-10-31 00:45:00 +00:00

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<h1>Boost Formal Review Process</h1>
<p>The Formal Review process determines if a proposed library should be accepted
as a Boost library.</p>
<p>The final &quot;accept&quot; or &quot;reject&quot; decision is made by the <a href="#Review Manager">
Review Manager</a>, based on review comments received from boost mailing list
members.</p>
<p>Reviews are scheduled so that:</p>
<ul>
<li>Each library gets review time proportional to its size, complexity, and
importance.</li>
<li>Only a small number of libraries are under active review at any one time.</li>
<li>Members know ahead of time when a particular library will be under active
review.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h2>Comments</h2>
<p> Boost mailing list members are encouraged to submit Formal Review
comments:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Publicly on the mailing list.</li>
<li>Privately to the Review Manager.</li>
<li>Privately to the library submitter.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Private comments to a library submitter may be helpful to her or him, but
won't help the Review Manager reach a decision, so the other forms are
preferred.</p>
<h2>Preparing review comments</h2>
<p>Comments may be brief or lengthy, but basically the Review Manager needs your
answers to several questions.&nbsp; If you identify problems along the way,
please note if they are minor, serious, or showstoppers.</p>
<ul>
<li>What is your evaluation of the design?<br>
</li>
<li>What is your evaluation of the implementation?<br>
</li>
<li>What is your evaluation of the documentation?<br>
</li>
<li>What is your evaluation of the potential usefulness of the library?<br>
</li>
<li>Did you try to use the library?&nbsp; With what compiler?&nbsp; Did you
have any problems?<br>
</li>
<li>How much effort did you put into your evaluation? A glance? A quick
reading? In-depth study?<br>
</li>
<li>Are you knowledgeable about the problem domain?<br>
</li>
<li>Finally, do you think the library should be accepted as a Boost
library?&nbsp; Be sure to say this explicitly so that your other comments
don't obscure your overall opinion.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Results</h2>
<p>At the conclusion of the comment period, the Review Manager will post a
message to the mailing list saying if the library has been accepted or
rejected.&nbsp; A rationale should be provided, but its extent is up to the
Review Manager.</p>
<h2>Notes for <a name="Review Manager"> Review Manager</a>s</h2>
<p>Before a library can be scheduled for formal review, an active boost member not
connected with the library submission must volunteer to be the &quot;Review
Manager&quot; for the library.</p>
<p>The review manager:</p>
<ul>
<li>Checks the submission to make sure it really is complete enough to warrant
formal review.&nbsp; See the <a href="lib_guide.htm">Boost Library
Requirements and Guidelines</a>.&nbsp; If necessary, work with the submitter
to verify the code compiles and runs correctly on several compilers and
platforms.</li>
<li>Sets the schedule, after discussion with the boost webmaster, currently
Beman Dawes.</li>
<li>Posts a notice of the review schedule on both the regular <b> boost mailing
list</b> and the <b> boost-announce mailing list</b>.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The notice should include a brief description of the library and what it
does, to let readers know if the library is one they are interested in
reviewing.</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Inspects the Boost <a href="../libs/libraries.htm">library catalogue</a> for
libraries which may interact with the new submission. These potential
interactions should be pointed out in the review announcement, and the
author(s) of these libraries should be privately notified and urged to
participate in the review.
<li>Urges people to do reviews if they aren't forthcoming.</li>
<li>Follows review discussions regarding the library, moderating or answering
questions as needed.</li>
<li>Decides if
there is consensus to accept the library, and if there are any conditions
attached.</li>
<li>Posts a message on both the <b>boost</b> and <b>boost-announce</b> lists informing members of the review
results.</li>
</ul>
<p>In other words, it is the Review Manager's responsibility to make sure the
review process works smoothly.</p>
<h2>Notes for Library Authors</h2>
<p>A proposed library should remain stable during the review period; it will just
confuse and irritate reviewers if there are numerous changes.&nbsp; It
is, however, useful to upload fixes for serious bugs right away, particularly
those which prevent reviewers from fully evaluating the library.&nbsp; Post a
notice of such fixes on the mailing list.</p>
<p>Library improvements suggested by reviewers should be held until after the
completion of review period. Such changes can then be incorporated in the <a href="submission_process.htm#Final">final
submission file</a> sent to the webmaster for posting.&nbsp; If the suggested
changes might affect reviewer's judgments,&nbsp; post a notice of the pending
change on the mailing list.</p>
<hr>
<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->11 October, 2001<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="38292" --></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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