dmd support for IDEs and the D tool chain

[Denis Koroskin]

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:20:31 +0400, Ary Borenszweig <ary at esperanto.org.ar>  
wrote:

> Denis Koroskin wrote:
>> On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:06:59 +0400, Jacob Carlborg <doob at me.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Here is my thoughts and what I think is needed to build a really good  
>>> IDE and maybe get some attention from the enterprise. It's really not  
>>> enough for the compiler to output some json for an IDE to use, the  
>>> whole tool chain needs to be revised.
>>>
>>> Compiler:
>>>   * Written in D
>>>   * Supports all major platform
>>>   * 32 and 64bit support
>>>   * Doesn't have annoying bugs like forward reference errors and  
>>> problem
>>>     with the linker
>>>   * Built with and IDE in mind
>>>   * Can be built as a (dynamic)library
>>>   * Can build dynamic libraries
>>>   * Supports incremental builds
>>>   * Has clearly separate components, especially the front- and  
>>> back-end.
>>>   * Has a license that allows it to be built into an IDE and/or shipped
>>>     with an IDE
>>>   * Basically something like LLVM + Clang
>>>
>>> Compiler or separate tool:
>>>   * Automatically tracks all dependencies and builds the
>>>     application/library (like DSSS)
>>>
>>> GUI library:
>>>   * Written in D
>>>   * Supports all major platforms (mac, linux, win)
>>>   * Uses native controls (as much as possible) to draw its controls
>>>   * Supports (de)serializing controls (Glade, nib)
>>>
>>> IDE:
>>>   * Written in D
>>>   * Be able to show syntax and semantic errors as you type
>>>   * Autocompletion
>>>   * Refactoring
>>>   * Building
>>>   * Supports incremental builds
>>>   * Basically something like Eclipse JDT
>>>
>>> GUI builder:
>>>   * Supports (de)serializing controls (Glade, nib)
>>>   * Basically something like Interface Builder, Glade
>>>
>>>
>>> All of the above would be the most optimal. For example, everything  
>>> don't have to be built in D but for building an IDE in D I think that  
>>> it would be easier.
>>>
>>  I can't agree more. Everything you wrote is in my TODO list, starting  
>> with a compiler, which already compiles most of the druntime (and  
>> hopefully will compile it fully by the end of this week). I'll release  
>> it to public as soon as Brad creates a project page at dsource.
>
> Is it a port of DMD? Because I think the main problem with above is that  
> the front-end is not very good... I think it has a lot of evolved code  
> and starting from scratch might be a good idea.

Yes, it's a DMD port. Unfortunately, there is no other mature D front-end  
at present. Other folks are working on D compilers (dil, dang, ...) but  
the progress is very slow.