Re: [orca-list] Programers guide for Orca development

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

Alex Midence <alex midence gmail com> wrote:
> My goodness!  Thanks, José for posting this.  It admirably underscores the
> desperate need for a concise, complete and well-written developer's guide
> for Orca.  Perhaps it is my own ignorance of matters programming but, I
> imagine only the very most persistent and dedicated people with a great deal
> of disposable time are likely to contribute anything substantial to Orca
> development.  

Actually, no, I don't think that's true. It's much less complex than, say,
Linux kernel development, to which large numbers of people (including
volunteers) regularly contribute.

The difficulty is that most Orca users don't have the required skills or
experience with reading and understanding source code. It really isn't that
complicated compared with, for example, a compiler, a Web browser, a
typesetting system, etc.

However, accessibility is a rather specialized area and thus it requires
contributors who have the required knowledge and an interest in the field -
harder to find.

The truth is that experienced programmers know how to make sense of even quite
complex software projects with limited documentation. They know how to
identify the important components and how to work out what they need to modify
in order to solve a problem.