Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE

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Re: Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE by MZSanford (Curate) on Oct 15, 2002 at 16:30 UTC
I have used a ton of IDE's, and currently use Visual SlickEdit in `vi` emulation mode... or just plain `vi` when feeling lazy (ok, mostly just `vi`). When it comes to the ever present goal of witting code faster, and more consistent, i have found that it is not as much the IDE, as it is the code architecture. -- oops, i said one of the scary words. If you make smart choices in your code architecture, like making modules where it counts, and actually thinking about loose coupling, you could write code in `notepad` and still be more productive than within an IDE with bad choices. This is like optimizing code with a bad choice of algorithm ... it may go faster, but not as fast as a good choice from the beginning. just my €0.02 update: format fix. changed <br> to <p> from the frivolous to the serious	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE by trs80 (Priest) on Oct 15, 2002 at 18:31 UTC
My first reply was strictly based on Komodo as a product, but I think your real question deserves some additional comments as well. I am always on the quest for more consistent and faster to produce code. When I was managing other developers this seemed even more important, but I feel that most of this comes back to the individual doing the coding. Tools can no doubt help, but I find that the editor or IDE can only go so far. The biggest improvement for me when using a product like Komodo is its error highlighting, this has kept me from having to do a compile to find out I made a mistake, and I do feel my level of output has increased because of it. However I feel my coding method and quality has increased more by adding durable testing code and processes to the development cycle. With your current tool set (cvs,emacs) I don't think you will get a large enough advantage out of Komodo, but I am not sure which feature in Komodo is most attractive to you. See Ovid's recent node on testing , and my reply for more info. If you are already using testing code then I would suggest that you look at how to move more of the code into rules or configuration files rather then keeping it all in code, this has been a big help in my development cycle as well. I like using Config::Auto along with Class::Accessor to create method calls for each of my configuration values which goes a long way in providing a flexible consistent means of getting and setting application parameters. This is all OO Perl and if you are not doing OO Perl I am not sure how to best bend it to your needs.	[reply]
Re^2: Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE by Karel Capek (Initiate) on Dec 22, 2004 at 18:41 UTC
This comment addresses Komodo 3.0.1. Two small problems I've noticed: the occasionally disappearing variables in the Output tab, which can be worked around by setting the variable names in the Watch tab; the continually resetting iterator, which occurs when one has a breakpoint set inside a foreach loop on a hash, for example. After puzzling over this for awhile I tried this with the Simpsons/Jetsons example from O'Reilly, and if a breakpoint is set in the loop, one gets a continuous stream of Simpsons, that never stops, even if - problem #3 - one presses the ineffective pause or the stop buttons. If no breakpoint, works fine. Actually, it appears the pause and stop buttons are ineffective whether or not breakpoints are used. It didn't appear that anyone else noticed these items, hence this comment. Plus, it's easier to login to Perlmonks than to jump through the various ActiveState bug reporting hoops. It's entirely possible I've done these operations improperly, but it doesn't appear so at this time. Thoughts for today: 1) Engineers are pessimists; would you want to fly in a plane designed by an optimistic engineer? 2) One cannot pleasantly surprise an optimist. Optimists, therefore, have only an unending series of disappointments that they will, of course, look forward to. Enjoy a safe and happy holiday season, keeping in mind that more people die on Christmas day than any other day. Have another day!	[reply]
Re: Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE by trs80 (Priest) on Oct 15, 2002 at 18:00 UTC
I have used it on both Linux and Windows since early 1.x series. The betas that are out for Linux are substandard. I have spoken with someone at ActiveState about the issues and hopefully Beta 3 will correct them. I won't get into the specifics since they may or may not be platform specific, but the Beat 1 was useless and in Beta 2 one of the major new features (revision control) didn't work, which was the most compelling reason for me to even consider it. 2.0 seems to be a big improvement as far as feature set and user interface, but I think the speed of the applicaiton has taken a hit. I am not sure how much memory and what speed processor you are using, but I would recommend at least a 800MHz machine with 128 MB if you aren't running any web servers (mail,apache, etc.), my development is mod_perl based and I have a local server for testing so my memory is requirements are higher because of that. I have stayed with 1.2.9 for now since the majority of my work is in Linux. You can read my somewhat dated review here at the monastery as well. Update: Changed did to didn't	[reply]
Re: Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE by seattlejohn (Deacon) on Oct 15, 2002 at 17:29 UTC
Easiest way to find out if they will be useful for you: Download the 30-day trial versions and give them a try! Use them for your day-to-day work and see if you feel more productive or are writing better code (once you're past the inevitable learning curve, of course). Firsthand experience with the products in your real-world circumstances is bound to be more meaningful than any speculation that folks who don't know your working environment and coding style would be able to offer, IMHO. $perlmonks{seattlejohn} = 'John Clyman';	[reply]
Re: Activestate Perl and the Komodo IDE by Aragorn (Curate) on Oct 15, 2002 at 17:31 UTC
You can download an evaluation version of Komodo here. I've tried an earlier version of it for a couple of days, but I wasn't impressed with the speed (but I'm working on a Pentium Pro 200 with 64MB :-). I'm an Emacs fan myself, and although the CPerl-mode is very handy, it doens't do too much handholding. Code completion and other nifty gadgets are handy, but I think that thinking about what you're doing is going to make you a better programmer than relying on IDE gadgets. But maybe that's just me. I'd suggest that you download the trial version, use it, and if you like it, buy it. -- All that is gold does not glitter...	[reply]