Date:	Sun, 1 Dec 1996 10:14:59 +0200 (IST)
From:	Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
To:	shaman AT nlc DOT net DOT au
Cc:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject:	Re: Idea for powerful IDE
In-Reply-To:	<32A0FD87.66AA@nlc.net.au>
Message-Id:	<Pine.SUN.3.91.961201100547.12293Z-100000@is>
Mime-Version:	1.0

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?

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