Lessons from Integrating Functionalities Fred C. Martin WA Dept. Natural Resources Olympia, WA Open-FVS: Lessons from Integrating Functionalities into A Multi-Developer Framework

"The art of research [is] the art of making difficult problems soluble by devising means of getting at them." Sir Peter Medawar. Open participation structure - expand contributor base USFS Forest Mgmt. Service Center Universities Consultants Other Agencies Pros: larger community. Cons: larger community. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

"With some glee and considerable professional acclaim, we seem to keep at least one jump ahead of the man- agers' comprehension of our methods." Albert R. Stage. Framework for potential additions & extensions Habitat classification Optimizer Climate changes interactions: pests, cover, etc. Alternative growth engines – Organon, Forest BGC, etc. Pros: API for extending functionality. Cons: loss of independence. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

“To know what I think, I need to read what I've written.” Unknown. Documentation standards - consistency & availability Users manuals WIKIs Internal code documentation, spctrn.f SVN commit comments Suppose Outputs/results – reports, database, visualization, etc. Pros: central hosting. Cons: multiple points of reference, coordination effort. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

“Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truths for yourself." Vilfredo Pareto. Testing – incorporate into building process Protects existing content Functionality testing, black box testing Internal testing, white box testing Test driven development – unit tests Pros: continuous quality assurance. Cons: can double development time. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

"We do think in language, and so the quality of our thoughts and ideas can only be as good as the quality of our language." George Carlin. Programming standards & architecture – code consistency Procedural versus object oriented, spaghetti code Structure, style - camel notation, comments, linkages Variable & method naming Pros: guides design, common patterns, aids understanding. Cons: constrains progress. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

"All science is the search for unity in hidden likenesses." J. Bronowski. Integration implications – logical behavior among entities Database connectivity - file versus database outputs Timing issues – simulation periods, end of period versus beginning of period Harvest in first period versus activities later in a cycle Start and stop operations and retrieval of state Pros: affirms expected interactions, extends solution space. Cons: constrains creativity. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

"They didn't want it good, they wanted it Wednesday." Robert Heinlein. It’s a framework not a panacea – it ain’t easy & it takes time System is large Inherits limitations from the past Need to work as a team Longer learning curve Pros: contributes to larger good. Cons: higher tolerance level. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

"Don't analyze constraints; we ignore them until we get caught, so just tell us how good it could be if we didn't have any." Local forest manager. ECON Extension integration – linkages between programs Keyword input Individual tree and log volumes Controlling harvest implementation via PRETEND Event Monitor actions Publish results Lessons from Integrating Functionalities

FVS Keyword Entry Initiate Trees Grow Trees Burn, Infect, Infest Publish Outcomes Harvest Trees Regeneration ECON Pass Keywords Get Tree/Log Volumes Get Harvests Get Events Value Harvest & Events Pass Results

Summarizing: "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily," "law of parsimony" or "law of succinctness." Franciscan friar William of Ockham. "Art is never finished, only abandoned." Leonardo da Vinci. "You cannot predict the future because it depends on how you react to it." George Soros. Lessons from Integrating Functionalities