Mail Archives: djgpp/1996/12/01/03:36:05
On Sun, 1 Dec 1996 shaman AT nlc DOT net DOT au wrote:
> all quite simple. When projects are being made by several people, most
> IDEs do not have features to help out. Some examples of things that irk
> me:
Frankly, this sounds like the all-time programmer's wish-list to me. You
can't *really* expect a program to do so much of a programmer's job.
Anyway, some of the things you wish are already there in Emacs (of
course).
> * I want to be able to get to the function I'm interested in without
> flipping through pages of code. Why can't IDEs put each function/class
> on it's own? (Visual Basic does this)
Emacs has a program (called `etags') which tags all the functions,
macros, typedefs etc. and lets you jump to it with a keystroke.
> * What if several people are working on the same project? Keeping
> everyone's version of the code up to date is a bitch, compiling is
> difficult at best and with very large projects it becomes a total
> nightmare. No wonder projects like Windows 95 are so badly organised.
Check out the integrated version-control support in Emacs.
> * Why can't compilers automatically notice and warn me about common
> mistakes like leaving out semi-colons at the end of class declarations
> using colored highlights?
Emacs does that. It has a package which, when loaded, automatically
paints in color the matching paren when your cursor is on a paren. If the
parentheses mismatch, it changes the color to catch your eyes. The source
indentation in Emacs is syntax-sensitive, so if you forget a semi-colon,
you usually will feel it right away, when you press RET, becaise it won't
indent correctly.
> * Why aren't there nifty features in compilers like being able to see
> what a typedef/constant/macro actually is in a seperate window just by
> moving the cursor over it?
The `etags' facility described above does this. It can show you the
definition of a macro or a typedef in a window other than the current one.
> etc, etc.. I'm sure everyone can think of hundreds of things that
> annoys them about compilers/IDEs..
>
> So.. anyone feel like making and IDE this good? 8)
How about sitting down and implementing some of these wonders, then
letting others use them for free?
- Raw text -