[Openmcl-devel] Multiple IDEs for CLZ [Re: A plug for nx1-combination-hook]

[Glen Foy]

On Sep 7, 2009, at 6:49 PM, Terje Norderhaug wrote:

> On Sep 7, 2009, at 1:30 PM, Tim Bradshaw wrote:
>> On 7 Sep 2009, at 17:52, Terje Norderhaug wrote:
>>> 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.
>>
>> I agree with this, but I feel perhaps more strongly.  I use Eclipse
>> relatively frequently, and it basically makes me feel fairly ill
>> every time I do so.  I'm not a very fluent Java programmer but I
>> still do not want something that overwhelming (and I can't see
>> anyone who can type wanting that).  It may be that younger
>> programmers today *do* want that - I guess the fact that Eclipse
>> exists at all must indicate that.
>
> I recognize that programmers vary in how we prefer to work with
> development environments. Some are able to remember a high number of
> commands with little aid (making unix shell and emacs fit like a
> glove). Others benefit from aided recall and ease of (re)
> discoverability. Experience and time spent in an environment may
> change ones preference.
>
>> FWIW I quite liked LispWork's IDE which was a good compromise and
>> had a number of powerful tools (mainly the grapher).  I would still
>> be using that if I could justify the cost given how much CL I write
>> now.  So looking at that might be interesting.
>
>
> We could have LispWork's IDE as *one* of the development environments
> available for use with Clozure CL.

I really like the idea of multiple IDEs.

Basic CCL could offer a lean, but powerful, IDE similar to MCL.  It  
could be extended and modified using the contribs mechanism, producing  
an IDE more like LispWorks.

Add to that an option for the completely new type of IDE which Rainer  
describes,  an IDE based around the central metaphor of search.  It  
would be a terrific combination.

I would also like to see Rainer's design implemented as a generic Lisp  
IDE, using the Slime/Swank protocol to support various Lisps.  It  
could be written in CCL and use some cross-platform toolkit for the  
GUI  -->  Qt?  LUI?

Terje, I know you can do this.  We're giving you 6 months ...