Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Social networking touted for software development

news
Jul 1, 20092 mins

Atlassian tools provide activity streams that reveal what different people are doing in the code repository

Atlassian this week introduced FishEye 2, which adds social networking capabilities to source code repositories, including Subversion and CVS, and boosts agile programming projects.

The company also is offering Crucible 2, a peer code review tool.

Serving as a Web interface to repositories, FishEye 2 indexes content within a repository for viewing with a Web browser, said Ken Olofsen, Atlassian product marketing manager for developer tools. Social networking capabilities include developer access to “activity streams” that reveal what different people are doing in the repository. The information is provided via RSS feeds or other information flows.

“The biggest thing that we’ve added [in version 2] is being able to follow people,” Olofsen said. Users can track the development efforts of several persons.

“It’s very much akin to agile,” Olofsen said. Transparency is provided on development activities because changes to code show up in the feed, he added. “Agile is really all about feedback,” which FishEye 2 provides, he said.

“I would say [the biggest benefit of version 2] is being able to understand your source better than ever. You can explore all sorts of information in your source code repository,” with FishEye providing filters, said Olofsen. Source code artifacts have a unique URL.

Version 2 features a revamped interface. “A lot of the usability has been improved,” Olofsen said.

Other capabilities in FishEye 2 include the ability to navigate a Subversion repository and the inclusion of a query language for searches. Browsers supported in FishEye 2 include Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Plans also call for supporting the Google Chrome browser. Additional repositories supported include Perforce and Git, but Git support currently is in a beta release form.

Crucible 2, also a Web-based tool for development teams, enables lightweight asynchronous code review, Olofsen said. The upgrade makes it a more seamless process to manage revisions. Iterative code review in version 2 enables incorporation of revisions into a review process.

IDE connectors allow for use of Crucible 2 within the Eclipse and JetBrains IntelliJ Idea IDEs.

Each product starts in price at $1,200, with different tiers of pricing available. They are also included as part of the hosted Jira Studio suite, which costs $25 per person per month.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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