Script Editor future (was Re: Open Source Kickstarter Report Card)

[Ali Lloyd]

On Thu, 20 Aug 2015 at 16:49, Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
wrote:

> With the IDE things are even better:  it's already written in a
> high-level scripting language.  Why not use LiveCode Script?
>
> If we can't build a good text editor in LiveCode, what are any of us
> doing here?
>
>

That is a false dichotomy - we certainly can build a good text editor in
LiveCode Script, but we can probably build a better one using LiveCode
Builder and LiveCode Script . The field code in the engine is extremely
complicated, even after all the good work Fraser has done on it. On top of
that the script editor in the IDE is a highly specialised stack, there is
code all the way through its objects, and it is fairly inexorably
intertwined with the debugger.


There will be a field widget at some point, that is pretty much known. And
it will be better than the existing field object. The script editor is
probably the most important field in the IDE. So we will be using a field
widget as the basis for the script editor. That much, to me at least, seems
inevitable. As a result the script editor stack will be more modular,
manageable and robust.


Note this is not the official opinion of LiveCode, just my take on it as
the person who has been primarily tasked with IDE development for 8.0. I
don't think that the current script editor should be neglected, and if I
end up being assigned to that task I will attempt it with equal gusto. I'm
definitely interested in compromise here, and would be happy if we could
reach some sort of agreement as to what goals are appropriate for the
current script editor. And I would be very interested to hear opinions from
others on this topic.