[Openmcl-devel] A plug for nx1-combination-hook

[Terje Norderhaug]

On Sep 4, 2009, at 3:23 AM, Glen Foy wrote:
> On Sep 3, 2009, at 6:57 PM, Ron Garret wrote:
>> IMHO, being able to actually run the more compact form would be a big
>> win for pedagogical purposes if nothing else.
>
> Many of us come from an MCL background, Clozure as well as list
> members.  We are used to MCL's lean, even Spartan IDE.  We know that a
> Lisp System doesn't need a lot of bells and whistles to be really
> powerful.

I am in the camp preferring a more spartan, focused IDE for myself,  
with just the functionality I need. But I can see the attraction of  
toolbars etc. It could be useful to have a variety of IDEs on top of  
a lisp environment, supporting the taste/needs of different developers.

> The problem is new users don't know that.  Alex Repenning has
> commented on this numerous times.  He teaches young programmers and
> knows what he's talking about.  We need to give CCL some flash.  Young
> programmers are used to XCode and Eclipse.  They expect toolbars and
> project managers.  They expect to be able to single step their code
> and to set break points.  They expect to be able to push a button and
> have their applications built and launched.  Etc, Etc. Etc.

Flash could provide a positive first impression for new users.  
Another factor is immediate familiarity, giving them the feeling that  
they are at home, that they know what to do next. A lisp IDE modeled  
after XCode could be interesting, even if it might be less than  
optimal for savvy developers.

> We need to be better salesmen for Lisp in general and CCL in  
> particular.  We need to package it better.  Presentation is  
> everything.

Maybe something like LispBox but with an appealing IDE on top to  
attract new developers used to more fancy/flashy development  
environments than emacs?

-- Terje Norderhaug