dmd support for IDEs

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> language_fan wrote:
>>> Another point not mentioned here is that modern IDEs use incremental 
>>> and interactive compilation model. The compiler should be run as a 
>>> persistent background process and parsing should happen perhaps on 
>>> the level of the current scope. Re-compiling a million line project 
>>> after each key stroke simply makes no sense.
>>
>> This would not require recompiling a million lines with every key 
>> stroke, unless you are editing a million line module.
>>
>>> Even compiling the current module once per key stroke is too slow.
>>
>> As you say, it should be done as a background process.
>>
>>> Specifying an intermediate json/xml file format is a huge task 
>>> considering the amount of language constructs, types etc. available 
>>> in D.
>>
>> It isn't. It's far less work than ddoc is, for example.
>>
>>> I'm all for good tool support but as many have already mentioned, the 
>>> support would only bring marginal improvements to small scale tools 
>>> like vim and emacs. Usually small scale D projects (< 10000 lines of 
>>> code) are written with those tools (feel free to prove me wrong). 
>>> These are not the kinds of projects large enterprises would use D 
>>> for, they use scripting languages for smaller tasks. Thus the overall 
>>> improvement is minimal.
>>
>> I think the bang for the buck on this is large.
> 
> For each snippet of code that doesn't currently compile, I generate a 
> red warning in the TDPL draft. Currently there are 28 such red warnings, 
> and each may be arbitrarily difficult to fix. There are other issues 
> that we know need to be done as soon as yesterday.
> 
> IMHO it would be frivolous to spend time on anything else but the 28 
> bugs. This XML/JSON generation is like combing one's hair before leaving 
> the burning house. Just run! (I'm not saying I don't like combed hair or 
> XML/JSON parsing, but the latter is absolutely nothing you need to work 
> on now.) Please understand that TDPL is on a crash course and we can't 
> have a book without a language (I'm also assuming we can't have a 
> language without a book).
> 
> Walter, please avoid all distractions and make bringing D in sync with 
> the book your sole preoccupation. I am working *extremely* hard on the 
> book, and I wish I were seeing the same level of commitment in you.
> 
> 
> Andrei

I ammend the above: s/commitment/focus/. Of course Walter is motivate 
and committed more than anyone else to make D successful, but it's time 
to force ourselves to absolutely focus on the important _and_ urgent 
matters.

Andrei