I've worked on Eclipse plugins in the past, and think that its plug-in architecture is very well-designed. I was thrilled that Adobe/Macromedia chose it as a tools platform. Eclipse has a small core, and each plug-in implements "extension points" and can also add its own extension points for other plug-ins to extend. I haven't studied FlexBuilder to see what extension points Adobe has provided, and I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the top priority in the first couple of releases. But given the competition it would behoove them to add both end-user features and extensibility, and we probably just need to be patient and provide feedback.
When I used Visual Studio in C++ days I hated it, but I can accept that they may have better code assist for C# than FB has for ActionScript. They have deep pockets after all, and have been at it for a while. But that particular problem can be remedied, I would think. I'm not sure Adobe should invest resources in developing Visual Studio plug-ins. I should also add that in the Java world, IntelliJ IDEA (which I'm currently using) and Netbeans have their advocates, and there are some advantages to getting your IDE from a single source. Sometimes, setting up the ideal Eclipse environment can be a bit of a chore. But it's a solid and popular platform, and nice open community. - Richard On 6/14/07, Jeffry Houser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I'm willing to accept that I misunderstood what you were saying. It happens. I didn't mean to respond to the e-mail that was quoted below mine, though. If I did that's definitely my fault. Someone said Adobe should write tutorials on how to create plug-ins for Flex Builder. Flex Builder is built on top of Eclipse. There are already plenty of tutorials on how to create plugins for Eclipse. Why would Adobe devote time to that? I'm not sure what 'special' API you think that Adobe should provide or document. Michael Schmalle wrote: > > > > > Load up Flex Builder --> Help --> Help Contents > > > Look at Platform Plug-in Developer Guide and Plug-in Development > > Environment guide. > > > And/or google "Eclipse Plugin Tutorials". > > Ok, thanks for the gogo baba talk but, you missed what I am saying. So > that is why they provide an API, I guess it's a catch 22 and I am on the > wrong side again. > > What the hell is google? > > Peace, Mike > > > On 6/14/07, *Troy Gilbert* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<troy.gilbert%40gmail.com> > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <troy.gilbert%40gmail.com>> > wrote: > > > Eclipse/FB does plenty of auto-finishing of > > variables/classes/constants for me. Where do you see it as falling > > short? > > Have you used VS2005? It's like night and day (well, maybe later > afternoon and early evening). > > For example, in FB if I'm on a new line of my source code and start > typing, there's no autocomplete prompt. Sure, I can hit CTRL+SPACE and > get one, but in VS2005 it's smart enough to do the autocomplete > automatically. > > The real time save is when filling in function paramters... when I > open a paren for a function call's argument list, VS2005 will prompt > me with all of the valid (by scope) identifiers that match the right > type (or super type). In FB, I've got to hit CTRL+SPACE and then it's > just all the identifiers in scope, not a list filtered by what would > actually compile in that slot. > > VS2005 also offers tooltips when going throught he autocomplete list > based on the doc-comments for each item. Features like this make code > documentation seamlessly beneficial and add tangible, immediate > benefit to my coding. You can almost *explore* the code as you write > it as opposed to jumping back and forth to an API reference. > > Hell, I've got a pretty powerful machine sitting their idle while I > click away in a text editor... I appreciate the IDE using some of > those spare cycles to help my feeble human brain (that's what > computers are for!). > > VS2005 also does syntactic error checking as you type, as opposed to > just "build automatically" when saving. I can always tell in FB when I > have a type somewhere become autocomplete all of the sudden stops > working... so, obviously FB has some idea that I've mad a typo, it'd > just be nice if it let me know (VS2005 uses the common "spelling > error" red-dotted underline and "grammatical error" blue-dotted > underline for unknown identifiers and syntactic errors, respectively). > > Troy. > > > > > -- > Teoti Graphix > http://www.teotigraphix.com <http://www.teotigraphix.com> > > Blog - Flex2Components > http://www.flex2components.com <http://www.flex2components.com> > > You can find more by solving the problem then by 'asking the question'. > -- Jeffry Houser, Technical Entrepreneur, Software Developer, Author, Recording Engineer AIM: Reboog711 | Phone: 1-203-379-0773 -- My Company: <http://www.dot-com-it.com> My Podcast: <http://www.theflexshow.com> My Blog: <http://www.jeffryhouser.com>
