Worth it to continue work, or halt for now?

Coote · 07-14-10, 12:20 PM

I've been working on a few different small projects to get used to LUA (I've spent nearly 2 years with C++/C#/PHP/Perl/Python, so I've definitely got some programming experience in general), as well as round out my UI for the past month or so. With the Beta released, and the end of Wrath soon™ approaching, I've been wondering if it'd even be worth continuing this late in the expansion, with the likelihood that what I'm working on will end up broken, and having to be completely redone.

I have a few friends trying to get me to complete them, a few telling me to hold off, and because of that, I've got conflicting thoughts about whether to continue or not. The whole idea of hard work possibly going to waste has been getting me into a bit of a slump. I guess I figured the AddOn community could be able to help me make up my mind on halting or continuing, or something.

PS: What's the probability that there may be changes to how AddOns handle textures, and image formats that can be used? If I do halt working on the actual code, I could still do a bit of the artwork, so I don't need to do that later on.

Soulofsin_007 · 07-14-10, 12:25 PM

I'd keep at it, just don't rush it. Last thing you want to do is release it with ton's of bugs in it and have no one touch it. Personally, I don't think blizz would change anything with the way they handle images, I could be wrong though.

Coote · 07-14-10, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Soulofsin_007

Last thing you want to do is release it with ton's of bugs in it and have no one touch it.

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to bugs, which is one reason I've been a bit apprehensive with continuing only to have it all blow up in my face come 4.0.

orionshock · 07-14-10, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by TMcMahon51

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to bugs, which is one reason I've been a bit apprehensive with continuing only to have it all blow up in my face come 4.0.

ah well this is normal with blizzard. anything you do in an addon has always had a possibility of being changed, broken or removed in an upcoming patch.

Xrystal · 07-14-10, 12:45 PM

Also, as long as it works with the latest version at least you know it will be due to changes specific to the new expansion

Waverian · 07-14-10, 01:18 PM

If you write readable and maintainable code then you won't have to rewrite it entirely because of potential API changes.

yj589794 · 07-14-10, 02:30 PM

The code diffs of the latest WoW API from the beta are available with a little bit of searching, so it will be possible to look for any changes that may affect the addon you want to write.

You also say you are learning Lua, so I say carry on with it. The more familiar you are with the language, the easier it will be for you to make any necessary changes once Cataclysm is released.