Tools

The following tools are used in the development of Lumbermill.




GNU Linux
If Linux were not Free, I would use for its power. If it were not so powerful, I would use it because it's Free. Getting both in one package? Fantastic.




GNU Emacs
Steep learning curve plateauing at breakneck development speed. If you code more than 10 hours a week and you touch type, Emacs is faster than whatever you're using now (with the possible exception of Vi). It's also nice to code SQL, Perl, and Lisp in the same environment.


Agile Development
In retrospect it's hard to believe that as recently as 1998 most people thought waterfall was the best way to build software.




Jakarta Ant
When building is trivial to perform, you are much more likely to release frequently. Constant integration and short release cycles are cornerstones of agile development.




JUnit
Unit testing minimizes the risk associated with flat-out and flying development. When you develop a set of unit tests you trust, you are free to focus on meeting the customer's needs.




Dia
UML doesn't have to be tied to antiquated waterfall methodologies. I use it during development to help understand the problem. Dia lets me do it with minimal overhead, and without paying $5,000 for the tool.




Jakarta Log4J
The first logging system supported by Lumbermill (at the time of this writing, the only one), and the one Lumbermill uses internally. Why is logging important? I'm guessing you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't already know the answer.