Re: [gentoo-user] perfect IDE

[Dirk Uys <dirkcuys@gmail.com>]

I have been searching for an open source c++ IDE for some time now. I
have not yet found a single IDE that is a perfect fit.

When you develop something small, an editor like vim/kate/emacs can be
sufficient, but when you work with larger projects created by other
people, things become a litte awkward (or at least for me). ctag can
help. Using doxygen to generate browsable code can also help a great
deal. Create a config file to generate all documentation even for
uncommented code and that includes the source in the generated
documentation.

Monodevelop has a c++ component in the IDE, but for some reason
(mono,novell,microsoft deals) I have lost interest in it. My criticism
may not be valid though, it is political.

I would suggest looking at CMake. You can use CMake scripts to
configure the build for a project independant of an IDE. CMake can
also generate project files for Eclipse CDT, KDevelop and some other
very popular c++ IDE that will not be mentioned here.

KDevelop is undergoing a complete rewrite. Looks like something
commond to projects with a name starting with "K". It may take some
time, but when finished it may be worthwhile?

Eclipse is not that bad. Make sure that you get a version of Eclipse
without any java plugins installed, they normally add a bunch of
useless stuff.

Creating an IDE is no small task. If you would like to dedecate some
time, have a look at the current efforts going into kdevelop.

I have heard of people that mainly target linux using the IDE which
name will not be mentioned. Guess that's an indication that there is a
need for a better open source linux IDE.

A good step may be to ask the guys on the KDE lists (or some other big
project) what IDE they are using? But, you may get a lot of frowns and
the answer of emacs/vim.

Regards
Dirk