IDE's out there, good bad ugly?

Community Forums/Developer Stations/IDE's out there, good bad ugly?

Falelorn(Posted 2004) [#1]
I was looking for a decent IDE, and would like to know what the community thinks of the ones out there.

I would like it for B+ and B3D. Or whats the best one for each one.


Trixx(Posted 2004) [#2]
Favourite ones amongst developers are
Visual Blitz (15$) - http://www.3dgametool.com/project_visualblitz.htm
Protean (45$)- www.proteanide.co.uk

There are also several free IDE-s but they can't compete with these two.


GW(Posted 2004) [#3]
They can on price. ;-)

Also look at:
Blitzview
Context
UltraEdit


Warren(Posted 2004) [#4]
As the saying goes, free software is only free if you don't value your time. :)


Falelorn(Posted 2004) [#5]
Ive seen a couple of the freebies, and tried a couple demos, I think the free ones are good, but cant compare to the pro ones.

Thanks for the input all. :)


Picklesworth(Posted 2004) [#6]
Can I get a link to UltraEdit or Context? I'm trying Blitzview, but the translations are driving me nuts and the text highlighting could use a little work.


skn3(Posted 2004) [#7]
Protean was the smartest move I ever made!

None of the other blitz editors compare to proteans functionality. The other editors are good, but take my advice and go with protean.


Trixx(Posted 2004) [#8]
Can I get a link to UltraEdit or Context? I'm trying Blitzview, but the translations are driving me nuts and the text highlighting could use a little work.

http://www.ultraedit.com
http://www.fixedsys.com/context/


Falelorn(Posted 2004) [#9]
Well after playing with it, and looking at what they are adding to it, im going with Protean, but after having my video card in my game computer go, im going to have to get one asap, then Protean. Unless I can sell my body for a new vid card :P lol jk, well maybe 8)


PaulM(Posted 2004) [#10]
The main and only reason I didn't like B3D was the IDE (coming from VS.NET), until I got Protean. It's definately the best IDE around and makes life a whole lot easier. i.e. GET IT NOW!


Kuron(Posted 2004) [#11]
I have not tried Protean. But Blitz View is the fastest at loading and highlighting large source files. Unfortunately, it has some bugs in it and doesn't have current commands in it. Visual Blitz isn't as fast as BlitzView at loading large files, but it is much better than the native Blitz IDEs which 90% of the time crash on me when trying to load large source files. Visual Blitz has some super features and is well worth the modest price.


R0B0T0(Posted 2004) [#12]
I just purchased Visual Blitz myself, and I'm happy with that decision. I've tried Protean each time a new demo has been released, but it just never gelled with me. Too much going on, it's distracting. I don't deny it is powerful, but personally I like the simplicity and 'snappiness' of the Blitz IDE, and Visual Blitz keeps this paradigm while still giving me the features I need (without the extra bulk and clutter).

I would definitely suggest trying out both demos. Play around for more than a couple minutes to get a feel for working in each one.

There are a few more things I want from Visual Blitz (eg. proper project support), but these appear on Ed's to-do list so I'm hoping to see them soon ;)


Warren(Posted 2004) [#13]
I'm sure you know this, but you can turn off just about everything that comes up in Protean after a fresh install. You can make it as basic and stream lined as you like. You're not forced to use any features ... it all has toggles.


Binary_Moon(Posted 2004) [#14]
Another vote for Visual Blitz here.


Kuron(Posted 2004) [#15]
After messing with the demo for a couple of days, I am definitely going to be buying Visual Blitz.


Bremer(Posted 2004) [#16]
I have used Visual Blitz since before it became commercial and I have never looked back. I am very happy with its features. Its just what I need. And since Ed is working on the Projects thing, I can't see me leaving it.


R0B0T0(Posted 2004) [#17]
I'm sure you know this, but you can turn off just about everything that comes up in Protean after a fresh install. You can make it as basic and stream lined as you like. You're not forced to use any features ... it all has toggles.


Thats true, and I did fiddle around with it quite a bit, but at the end of the day it just didn't feel right for me. This is my own personal opinion of course, it is a nice IDE for those who are more comfortable working in something like Visual Studio for example (I do at work, but I still really like the simplicity of Blitz.)

As for turning off unused features one might argue that if you are going to be doing this, why pay 3x more for the IDE in the first place? Although to be fair, I think they are both good values relatively speaking.

Anyway, I think for someone just looking to get more out of the standard IDE, you really can't go wrong with Visual Blitz.


Beaker(Posted 2004) [#18]
Protean doesn't gel with me either. There is no denying its power but it is very cluttered.

I prefer UltraEdit first and Visual Blitz 2nd.

There are also pretty good free ones like BIDE (see BlitzCoder showcase).


Warren(Posted 2004) [#19]
There is no denying its power but it is very cluttered.

Again, everything can be turned off. Just click the little "x" button on the windows you don't want.

You can have it as lean and clean as you like.

ROBOTO

Fair enough. I like having that power there if I need it is all. And Rob is adding some really nice features for upcoming versions, so I think it's worth being on board at this time...


Falelorn(Posted 2004) [#20]
There are some nice things coming, and nice things coming. Its worth it now IMO. Best purchase I made for IDE. I like it that I can make plug ins really quick with .net, something I use almost all the time for other projects.


Beaker(Posted 2004) [#21]
EpicBoy - I'm not just talking about windows, it just feels cluttered (and turning things off doesn't seem to rectify it).

This is just my opinion of course.


LineOf7s(Posted 2004) [#22]
I had the free beta version of Visual Blitz and used it all the time. When I saw how little Eddy was charging for it once he decided to sell it, and how quickly he attended to any issues that came up with it, there was no question I was going to buy it.

Another vote for Visual Blitz, despite how drool-worthy Protean looks on paper.

(Of course, it's not a competition - to each their own)


Kuron(Posted 2004) [#23]
Newbie VB owner here ;c) Great program.


kusco(Posted 2004) [#24]
Visual Blitz has my vote too.

I checked out Protean and didn't like the look'n'feel of the interface...frankly, I felt a little intimidated by it.

Visual Blitz is easy to use, has the features I need. I didn't have to spend too much of my time navigating the IDE to figure things out.

Protean has a lot of really cool features but it was too 'in your face' for me.

kusco


Grisu(Posted 2004) [#25]
I'm using BIDE:
http://www.enkeladress.com/

Just in case some people here like Freeware stuff! :)


Shagwana(Posted 2004) [#26]
im a Visual Blitz boy :)


Roccia(Posted 2004) [#27]
Why not give a look at my NJABE.

It's still beta but has very interesting functionalities like:
- Advanced colorizing: all functions/globals/types are colorized
- Inline help for commands (while you type the list of parameters is shown). Inline help for user functions cooming soon.
- Advanced Tag Completition: Autocomplete Types/globals/functions present in "include" files too
- Tag insight for Types: when you type "." after a var name, a dialog popups to let you choose from defined (in includes too) types. When you type "\" after a global defined variable, a dialog popups with the list of type fields.
- Comment/uncomment block
- Autoindent support
- Autoupdate support


Get it there: http://www.beggi.it/projects.asp


MikeHart(Posted 2004) [#28]
And while we are at it, have a look at

http://www.michaelhartlef.de

My IDE IndeED will have multilanguage support very soon. BLITZ2D,3D,4D..., DarkBasicPro, HotBasic, etc. ! Blitz support is allready in but has to be activated and tested.
You wanna know it's features? Then please have a look over at my site. For announcements about it see my site or visit my support-forum at

http://forum.michaelhartlef.de

Once IndeED is in RC state, I will place it in the tools section.


Tiggertooth(Posted 2004) [#29]
I'll put in a vote for Protean. I think it is a fantastic IDE once you're dealing with large projects. The project management is very good. It has excellent support for asset files as well, and even has some scripting support (like a professional IDE). There are a few bugs, but Rob seems to have it all together--if you've used .NET you'll be comfortable with it.

For my very large projects (100+ blitz code files) I use CodeWright. It is a professional grade IDE. Totally trainable on the blitz language, source control integration, and the best find in files in the business. However, if Rob fixes Protean's Find in Files functionality, I think I'll drop CodeWright.

My experience has been that you should pick your IDE based on the size of your projects. I still whip out the original Blitz3D IDE when I cut code off a forum web page...

Ken


Bot Builder(Posted 2004) [#30]
Vote in for Visual Blitz.

Protean has more functions yes, but the 'icing on the cake' functions are not worth 3x the price to me.


Filax(Posted 2004) [#31]
I vote visual blitz !


Wiebo(Posted 2004) [#32]
Ultra Edit.... all the way


skn3(Posted 2004) [#33]
I thought I would show you a "work in progress" enviroment, using protean.


(can't get better than that!)


Knotz(Posted 2004) [#34]
Protean here. I really love it.
I have it set up so that with one press on the button it compiles, protects, molebox'es and build an installer on the fly.


Tiger(Posted 2004) [#35]
Protean here too, Its a dream to work with.


Dreamora(Posted 2004) [#36]
one thing that is badly missing in Visual Blitz is the possibility to get all types shown that are in open files ( or in a project later ) etc.
That's the reason why i changed from VisualBlitz to protean, because i don't want to jump around 50 times to get all needed type vars etc together because visual blitz is only able to show the ones of the active file :(


Agamer(Posted 2004) [#37]
I like the plain old blitz one myself!