[Lazarus] Lazarus make me create better apps

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Thu, 6 May 2010, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

> On 6 May 2010 09:31, Juha Manninen <juha.manninen at phnet.fi> wrote:
>>
>> Please don't continue the same discussion any more, anyone!
>
> Correct, and the reason why I replied to those posters in private.
>
>
>> Given the design goals and Graeme's coding skills, I would estimate his IDE
>> will be in good shape relatively quickly, in one or two years.
>
> And like I told someone in private, it will also serve as a showpiece
> for what fpGUI is capable of (unlike the existing small [feature
> specific] demos included with fpGUI).
>
> Features already implemented (using +- 12 hours of my time):
>  * Project / unit management
>  * IDE macros
>  * User defined macros per project
>  * multi-threaded for compiling and searching functions, keeping the IDE
>     and UI very responsive.
>  * multiple build modes
>  * very customizable compiler options and search directories.
>     this works hand-in-glove with multiple build modes.
>  * project templates support
>  * External tools support
>  * Context sensitive help (by using offline help)
>  * Single Window (tabbed) design
>  * File Browser support
>  * Scratch Pad or Code Snippets window

Without wanting to diminish your accomplishments:

These are the easy things. You created what basically amounts to an editor.

There are more things to Lazarus than just the editor, and it seems to
me that people are forgetting this, taking many things for granted.

The hard things are 
- Code tools. The code tools in Lazarus are HUGE.
- Extended designer. The fpGUI designer is rudimentary.
- On top of this: Designer-Code tools interaction.
- Package support.  A huge domain by itself.
- IDE extension interfaces.
- Reporting tools.

These are the things that will require a lot of effort to get right.

But I will be watching closely at the progress you are making.
If cooperation fails, then competition is OK, as long as it is in 
a healthy atmosphere.

Michael.