[ros-users] resolving open REP-0122 issues

[Geoffrey Biggs]

On 25 July 2012 23:56, Daniel Stonier <d.stonier at gmail.com> wrote:
> I just browsed through its entirety. There seems to be a fair bit of anxiety
> around catkin. I've been using catkin (formerly rosbuild2) for over a year
> now - for cross compiling with arm compilers and development with window's
> msvc. It's definitely a sea change in the way we build things in RoS, but I
> believe the potential for doing things with catkin is enormous. It really
> does free us from alot of constraints.
>
> With regards to what we've come to value from the old system...
>
> I think rather than trying to hang on to what was there, a better way to
> approach the problem is to identify what we valued and proceed to work out
> how to retain that value in catkin. Catkin can handle most (all?) of the
> issues discussed above and for some issues there are several ways to do it.
> To actually envisage how without a really good understanding of how the
> cmake-python brew works is difficult. Let's throw in the items we feel are
> important from the old build system, and let the catkin devs explain in more
> detail or find a way to make things happen.
>
> Re the stack/package differences. I can understand where Dirk is coming
> from. Mechanically, the idea of a package is starting to become entirely
> redundant within the build system. Package based namespacing - it would be
> very easy to informally construct the same level of namespacing yourself, or
> write some catkin logic to enforce some structure formally.
> For dependencies - actually cmake does a far more efficient job of chaining
> compiles via tracking of individual targets. It will only compile that which
> you need and no more. Packages will tend to do alot more than what you
> actually need. For non-code packages, I'm already finding ways to do things
> the catkin way, yet achieve the same purpose. I could go on...but the point
> is there - is the last vestige of the ros package just a human concept?

As one of the most experienced *users* of catkin, could you write up
some guidelines and tips for those new to catkin to follow? Even just
a few of the most important things you've discovered. You've found how
to do certain things "the catkin way," and having that knowledge
available for newcomers might help lessen some of their concerns.

Geoff