Eclipse extremely slow, Code::Blocks has bad autocomplete; VS the best IDE?

[gcampton]

Relevant: http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9273/1265399598593.png

BAHAHAHAHA

My only really problem with Visual Studio is it's mediocre text-editor (but still better than some), but then again they all have flaws that annoy the pants off of me. With Netbeans having the second best editor, and Eclipse first. IMO

Yea, If only the C++ plugins for eclipse worked as well as it does for Java....

I don't really get why OP is saying Eclipse is slow, perhaps he downloaded a dodgy version off a corrupted repo or something. IMO go download from the website (the nightly builds, beta) and install it yourself just stick it in $HOME/bin and fix all your shortcuts to point to it, set it up to automagically update your plugins.
and then you only need to remember to update it once every 4-6months if that. (also make sure to remove any trace of GNU-Java, use Sun only... This is a major lag problem with most linux users)

CBlocks does have bad autocomplete. IMO I consider it a text editor not an IDE, there doesn't seem to be any improved functionality between it and an editor. It does however have the best Console I've seen. Anyway, if your going to use it same deal only this time get nightly build repo from the forums and add it to your sources list. Then open up your package manager of choice and install, it will automatically update itself every couple days (whenever a nightly build is released).

[chrisname]

much better error messages.

I gotta disagree here. I don't understand VC++'s error messages. The gcc ones are, IMO, easy to understand:
file:line:[column:] [error/warning/note]

[helios]

I personally don't see any difference between the two. Probably because I don't actually read the messages, just look at the line that caused them.

[tition]

@gcampton:

Hmm, I don't actually know which version of Java I am running... (I am just a dumb computer user and try not to look at anything that works out of the box).

Anyways, do you have any experience with larger files? (the larger of my two files is 15k lines).

Also, Eclipse doesn't seem to index globally all the variables, just the variables/functions in the current file you are working with. Is there an option to fix that?

You use autocomplete? Good heavens. Am I the only one here who types the whole thing out every time?

@tummychow: No offense mate, but if you don't have lots of members and variable names in your classes, then maybe your programs do not need as complicated a functionality as mine.

Just to make it clear to you, these are only the members of the class I call the most often.

class ComputationSetup
{
public:
	partFractions thePartialFraction;
	QuasiPolynomial theOutput;
	CombinatorialChamberContainer theChambers;
	Rational Value;
	std::string ValueString;
	intRoot ValueRoot;
	int NextDirectionIndex;
	roots VPVectors;
	GlobalVariablesContainer *theGlobalVariablesContainer;
	bool AllowRepaint;
	bool flagComputationInitialized;
	bool flagComputationInProgress;
	bool flagComputationDone;
	bool flagOneStepOnly;
	bool flagOneIncrementOnly;
	bool flagFullChop;
	bool flagUsingCustomVectors;
	bool flagComputingPartialFractions;
	bool flagDoneComputingPartialFractions;
	bool flagComputingVectorPartitions;
	bool ComputingChambers;
	bool MakingCheckSumPFsplit;
	bool flagDoingWeylGroupAction;
	bool flagHavingStartingExpression;
	bool flagDisplayingCombinatorialChambersTextData;
	bool flagHavingBeginEqnForLaTeXinStrings;
	bool flagHavingDocumentClassForLaTeX;
	bool flagDisplayingPartialFractions;
	bool flagComputationIsDoneStepwise;
	//bool flagAffineComputationDone;
	bool flagSuperimposingComplexes;
	bool flagCustomNilradicalInitted;
	bool flagDoCustomNilradical;
	bool flagSliceTheEuclideanSpaceInitialized;
	bool flagOneSteChamberSliceInitialized;
	char WeylGroupLetter;
	int NumRowsNilradical;
	int NumColsNilradical;
	int WeylGroupIndex;
//function declarations follow. There are many of them
};

The reason I put flag in front of most of my bool variables is because I use the sorting of my autocomplete to quickly select them.

The reason I use so long variable names is because otherwise I will not be able to remember what they do.

Yes, some of my variables are poorly named. If you think you always come up with the right variable name the first time you do your code, then maybe you haven't had that many variables in your code.

That is why I regularly clean up my variable names and substitute them with something better and more descriptive. One more reason I really need autocomplete.

[Bazzy]

bool flagDisplayingCombinatorialChambersTextData;
WTF

[firedraco]

I'm all for descriptive variable names but...I think when debugging you would be spending more time reading the name than actually looking at what they are being used for >_>

[S6k9GNh0]

Ok, seriously, CodeLite and Code::Blocks (although C::B is a bit buggy) both have auto-complete features and both can use VC++ capabilities. CodeLite works on both Linux and Windows as well. It even takes the time to make a 16 MB file that holds the database similar to Intellisense for larger projects. It has advanced syntax highlighting features and anything you want that isn't concerning the IDE directly can be added using a plugin. Please explain what you want that is different.

I will give VC++ that is has much better documentation and each error given has a code that is corresponding to it's own documentation article. GCC is not this convenient (nor is Linux that is commonly used on. Yay open source software documentation).

[tition]

I'm all for descriptive variable names but...I think when debugging you would be spending more time reading the name than actually looking at what they are being used for >_>

@firedraco:
I don't debug my flag variables. In Visual studio, when you hover the mouse over a variable during debug, you get its value. Very handy for flags.

However, I do admit that over there is way too much. I guess I will shorten it a bit :). I am way too addicted to autocomplete.

I do use very short names for all variables for which I do not have autocomplete (in Visual studio): for example, for local variables or counters.

@computerquip:

So CodeLite you say... I will give it a try.

Code::Block's autocomplete does not substitute templates, at least the latest stable version I have. That means when I specialize Matrix<Rational> m; and then type m.elements[0][0]. I will not get a drop-down list of the methods of the Rational class.

Now before you say this is just a small problem: more than 90% of the variables I address are in template specializations.

[firedraco]

What I meant by debugging was reading the code yourself as opposed to compiling/running it. I do use VS regularly so do I know what you are talking about (quite handy, I agree).

[chrisname]

I'm using CodeLite right now. I don't see it as being anything that special, really. I haven't noticed any decent autocompleting features (just for inbuilt stuff, it doesn't seem to be able to autocomplete class members, or give hints as to what parameter in a function you're entering*). It's a text editor with some useful buttons.

*My most common mistake is to get the order of parameters the wrong way round if there's more than two of them.

Edit: Update: I find using CodeLite stressful and annoying. It's too cluttered, it feels claustrophobic and it's autocomplete aids me in no way. All it autocompletes is inbuilt types (primitives like int, float and also struct, class) and *drum roll* C99 types like size_t. I'd rather stick to gedit I think. CrapLite gave me a headache.

[helios]

ಠ_ಠ

bitmaps kthxbai

EDIT: (Reply to http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/20069/page2.html#msg104845 )

[chrisname]

What?

[DrChill]

@tition
What are you making?

[tition]

@DrChill:
At the moment I am computing stuff in exceptional Lie algebra E6,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E6_(mathematics)

The project itself can compute vector partition functions,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostant_partition_function

combinatorial chamber subdivisions (you take an arbitrary set of planes and you compute all the pieces it divides your space into).

The deal is that the three areas are very much and very deeply connected. The thing is that most real mathematicians are too lazy to sit on their butts and do some programming. That is why they have graduate students like tition, who in turn are very lazy to write some nice editor to serve their autocompleting needs.

[Disch]

Just in case anyone here doesn't already know about Visual Assist.

Visual Assist is the greatest.

Check this out: http://wholetomato.com/ -- the features page doesnt' even really scratch the surface, either.

It was REALLY hard to leave that. That, in particular, is why I'm such a big advocate of VS. VS+VAX = heaven.

It really ought to be the gold standard that all other IDEs need to try and live up to.

[helios]

VA sucks so hard, the city uses it to clean the sewers.

[tition]

They said that the only Microsoft product that doesn't suck is the Microsoft vacuum cleaner.


I think though this doesn't hold for VS studio. It's only big problem is it doesn't work on linux.

[chrisname]

I've never liked visual studio. I always found it cluttered. I think I like text editors more because they're very plain; usually just a text box and some toolbars. IDEs tend to have little windows and tooltips and menus everywhere that just distract me.

CodeLite had good syntax highlighting, but that and the autocomplete wasn't worth the clutter.

[1yR4jE8b]

You like the plainness, but personally I believe all that extra space is better off used for tools such as class browsers, property-panes, project navigators, database explorers etc... Believe it or not, these are actually usefull if you take the time to learn how to use them, all that extra whitespace taking up the rest of my screen in a 80 width text editor...not so much.

[S6k9GNh0]

I personally find C::B cluttered a lot more than CodeLite. I hate VS but I'd have to say the ups are as good as the downs are bad.

And autocomplete works fine for me on codelite. I'm looking at a 16 MB tags file that contains a database of functions and classes for autocomplete. I might have added some extra configuration which I can't look at now because I just destroyed my windows partition since I'm giving the hard drive away. I'll look at the Linux build I have and see if it works.