Re: 9.6 install

On Wed, Feb 21, 2018 at 1:11 PM, Pete Helgren <pete@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There is a whole list of progressively more robust tools for development,
which can start with Notepad and end up with Eclipse/VS/RDi. The distinction
I would think is the build/compile/deploy/debug cycle support that IDE's
provide and an "editor" lacks...

That used to be a fairly "pat" way to look at the distinction, but I
don't think it is anymore. Visual Studio Code comes with some support
for those things, and plugins get you most if not all the rest of the
way there. So does it reach the "IDE" threshold?

I would argue that some debugging tools are much more robust than
others, so simply "having debugging support" isn't as definitive as it
might once have been. Similar for the other "IDE" aspects you cited.

VS Code is unquestionably vastly more feature-rich and IDE-like than
Notepad++. Calling a comparison between Notepad++ and VS Code an
"apples to apples" comparison strains credulity. (Not saying that you
did this, Pete.)

But it's equally clear that comparing VS Code with RDi isn't exactly
"fair" either.

With all the choices available today, I don't think the point is
whether you are comparing the same fruit. It's a matter of what
features you need, how much you can spend, which idiosyncratic quirks
in the software line up best with your workflow, etc.

John Y.