Notes on features and problems from the development of D2X-XL, newest first.
Eclipse/CDT
In connection with my job I have recently started to deal with Eclipse. Eclipse is an open source, open development platform.
That means it offers you basic functionality which you can arbitrarily enhance with Java. Eclipse development is driven by a few real
big companies among others. That results in it being a really professional product.
CDT is an Eclipse plugin offering a complete C/C++ development environment including source editing, version control via CVS
or SVN, and integrated debugging. I had some trouble installing it because the installation instructions weren't very informative
(a common problem with open source projects, so it seems), and because it was much simpler than I had expected it to be. Once I had
managed to open the C++ IDE, I imported the D2X-XL make files into an Eclipse/CDT project following a simple tutorial in the Eclipse/CDT Wiki,
compiled the program and launched the debugger (gdb) with a simple menu command.
Everything worked like a breeze. I was absolutely stunned. I am just not used to a Linux application to be installed that
easily, work that smoothly and be that complete. It is as good as Microsoft Visual Studio, if not better, and exactly what I
had been looking for for program development on Linux for so long. If that is the direction Linux is heading for, its future
will be bright.
