Is it just me, or do you end up installing raspbian over and over again on a complex project?

In the past two months, I've found that GitHub is my biggest buddy to fight off development woes.  For those who haven't embarked on GitHub, yet - the power of it comes with its use at the very start of a project.

In the past, I'd just throw my finished project in there which could benefit others - but, I didn't realize how I was missing the boat for it helping me out in the development phase.  It provides easy backup and retrieval to readily recover your project to a known good state.  In addition, it has you log a quick summary of any changes between syncs between your local project and the cloud.  I've found these features invaluable as a Maker.

Here's my M.O.:

1. At the start of the project, create a GitHub Repository.  Edit the README.md file to lay out the project summary.
2. On your Pi, do a 'git clone repository_address'.  You will now be in sync between a Pi directory and your cloud repository.
3. As you make 3D Printable files or collect sounds and images, use the web interface to organize them in your repository.  Then do a 'git pull' on the Pi to sync it.
4. As you discover required packages and learn tricks for setting up the Pi, update that README.md file accordingly.
5. As you update code on your Pi, do a "git add ., git comit, git push" to sync back to the cloud repository.
6. You can make a bash script that will allow for "install" of your project on a clean pi as well and house it in the repository.  Or simply update the README.md with instructions.

Now, within seconds, you can deploy your project to an infinite number of PIs.  You never lose track of where you left off or the magic .asoundrc file that was working for you.

Here's an example project I have brewing:  Ghost-Catcher-Cam.  The README.md at this state isn't written for others - it's to keep me straight on all the complexities of the build from audio, to display, to OpenCV, mouse pointer hiding, taskbar hiding, etc.

In the end, you'll have a perfect repository allowing you to share or remake your project from scratch without having to remember a thing.  You'll also be able to quickly leverage an old project into a new.

Happy New Year!

Sean

In the past two months, I've found that GitHub is my biggest buddy to fight off development woes.  For those who haven't embarked on GitHub, yet - the power of it comes with its use at the very start of a project.

In the past, I'd just throw my finished project in there which could benefit others - but, I didn't realize how I was missing the boat for it helping me out in the development phase.  It provides easy backup and retrieval to readily recover your project to a known good state.  In addition, it has you log a quick summary of any changes between syncs between your local project and the cloud.  I've found these features invaluable as a Maker.

Here's my M.O.:

1. At the start of the project, create a GitHub Repository.  Edit the README.md file to lay out the project summary.
2. On your Pi, do a 'git clone repository_address'.  You will now be in sync between a Pi directory and your cloud repository.
3. As you make 3D Printable files or collect sounds and images, use the web interface to organize them in your repository.  Then do a 'git pull' on the Pi to sync it.
4. As you discover required packages and learn tricks for setting up the Pi, update that README.md file accordingly.
5. As you update code on your Pi, do a "git add ., git comit, git push" to sync back to the cloud repository.
6. You can make a bash script that will allow for "install" of your project on a clean pi as well and house it in the repository.  Or simply update the README.md with instructions.

Now, within seconds, you can deploy your project to an infinite number of PIs.  You never lose track of where you left off or the magic .asoundrc file that was working for you.

Here's an example project I have brewing:  Ghost-Catcher-Cam.  The README.md at this state isn't written for others - it's to keep me straight on all the complexities of the build from audio, to display, to OpenCV, mouse pointer hiding, taskbar hiding, etc.

In the end, you'll have a perfect repository allowing you to share or remake your project from scratch without having to remember a thing.  You'll also be able to quickly leverage an old project into a new.

Happy New Year!

Sean