| Re: Mac editors / development environment [message #32270] |
Tue, 01 October 2002 07:22  |
K. Bowman
Messages: 330
Registered: May 2000
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Senior Member |
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In article <4a097d6a.0209302222.7e90ef4d@posting.google.com>,
MKatz843@onebox.com (M. Katz) wrote:
> I haven't yet seen what RSI is coming out with for the new IDL on OS X
> package, but IDL 5.4 (and probably 5.5 also) runs great in Classic
> mode from within OS X. Now *that's* a great environment to program in,
> and you don't have to spend any extra money. That environment saves a
> lot of time when programming and debugging. I pray that all of that
> isn't lost in transition to IDL 5.6 on OS X.
Alas, the "native" IDL for OS X and its great interface for OS X was
terminated when the OS X version of IDL was temporarily cancelled. RSI
has made clear in their OS X FAQ that the OS X version that will be
released soon is essentially the Unix version, and that it will use X
Windows for graphics rather than "native" Mac graphics.
There are some advantages to Macs being Unix. Our Mac server has been
up for over 4 months. Since upgrading to 10.2, we have not had a single
crach on any Mac.
One other small bit of Mac heresy. Junk the Apple mouse and buy a good
two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. It makes programming much easier.
The Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical is cheap, programmable, comes with Mac
OS X drivers, and works great on my Mac.
Ken
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| Re: Mac editors / development environment [message #32277 is a reply to message #32273] |
Mon, 30 September 2002 17:08  |
Kenneth P. Bowman
Messages: 585
Registered: May 2000
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Senior Member |
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In article <20020930181550619-0500@laika.space.umn.edu>,
Doug Rowland <rowland@fields.space.umn.edu> wrote:
> I'm starting a new IDL project on Mac OS X and was wondering if anyone
> can help me with suggestions for a good development environment / editor.
>
> The caveat handed down by my employer:
>
> No "weird"/*NIX software. Make it mainstream. Don't worry about
> spending a little money.
>
> My background is mostly amateur software development, using vi and IDL
> on Solaris.
>
> I have a copy of BBEdit Lite, but haven't found a language module.
>
> Mostly, I want a "mainstream" editor that knows about IDL, at least as
> far as syntax coloring. I am also looking for a "mainstream" version
> control / documentation system. My ideal would be something like
> Project Builder that knows about IDL.
I use the full version of BBEdit, mostly because I like a really good
point-and-click editor. Unfortunately, BBEdit does not know IDL syntax.
I never cared that much for syntax coloring anyway. It's like the
rainbow color table, it emphasizes things that don't really need to be
emphasized. I just make sure that IDL words are uppercase, while
variables are lower case, and I indent and comment carefully.
I have asked Barebones to add an IDL mode, but IDL occupies such a tiny
part of their universe that it is not likely to ever happen. BBEdit is
definitely "weirder" than any Unix-ism like vi or emacs (just because
it's a Mac application). BBEdit does allow you to create file groups
(something like projects). It does not allow you to set breakpoints and
so on like you can in the DE.
You can use the the Unix IDLDE environment, but then you are stuck with
the X Windows DE (yuck).
So, having offended a long list of people (X Windows fans, vi fans,
etc.), maybe I need to go learn emacs. ;-)
If money isn't a problem, get a Cinema display. It will compensate for
a lot of problems with the interface. ;-)
Ken
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| Re: Mac editors / development environment [message #32368 is a reply to message #32277] |
Tue, 01 October 2002 08:24 |
JD Smith
Messages: 850
Registered: December 1999
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Senior Member |
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On Mon, 30 Sep 2002 17:08:09 -0700, Kenneth P. Bowman wrote:
> In article <20020930181550619-0500@laika.space.umn.edu>,
> Doug Rowland <rowland@fields.space.umn.edu> wrote:
>
>> I'm starting a new IDL project on Mac OS X and was wondering if anyone
>> can help me with suggestions for a good development environment /
>> editor.
>>
>> The caveat handed down by my employer:
>>
>> No "weird"/*NIX software. Make it mainstream. Don't worry about
>> spending a little money.
>>
>> My background is mostly amateur software development, using vi and IDL
>> on Solaris.
>>
>> I have a copy of BBEdit Lite, but haven't found a language module.
>>
>> Mostly, I want a "mainstream" editor that knows about IDL, at least as
>> far as syntax coloring. I am also looking for a "mainstream" version
>> control / documentation system. My ideal would be something like
>> Project Builder that knows about IDL.
>
> I use the full version of BBEdit, mostly because I like a really good
> point-and-click editor. Unfortunately, BBEdit does not know IDL syntax.
> I never cared that much for syntax coloring anyway. It's like the
> rainbow color table, it emphasizes things that don't really need to be
> emphasized. I just make sure that IDL words are uppercase, while
> variables are lower case, and I indent and comment carefully.
>
> I have asked Barebones to add an IDL mode, but IDL occupies such a tiny
> part of their universe that it is not likely to ever happen. BBEdit is
> definitely "weirder" than any Unix-ism like vi or emacs (just because
> it's a Mac application). BBEdit does allow you to create file groups
> (something like projects). It does not allow you to set breakpoints and
> so on like you can in the DE.
>
> You can use the the Unix IDLDE environment, but then you are stuck with
> the X Windows DE (yuck).
>
> So, having offended a long list of people (X Windows fans, vi fans,
> etc.), maybe I need to go learn emacs. ;-)
>
> If money isn't a problem, get a Cinema display. It will compensate for
> a lot of problems with the interface. ;-)
>
>
I'll just chime in like a dully familiar choral refrain in a drawn out
opera: IDLWAVE for Emacs might just be what you're looking for
(idlwave.org). There is some news to report: we will soon be testing out
the package on (X)Emacs for MacOSX, and are hoping the next update will be
fully "OSX Certified". This includes running IDL as a sub-process of
Emacs in shell mode, since RSI has assured us a command-line version will
be part of the IDL for OSX release. Since you'll have to install an X
Server to run IDL under OSX anyway, getting Emacs will be no trouble. Of
course, learning your way around the varied and extensive landscape of
that editor cum lifestyle-choice is another matter...
JD
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