Components not an IDE?

[Richard Gaskin]

David Bovill wrote:
> I think we have an issue with the way we think of LiveCode and in
> particular the IDE. We picture it as a CMS or an opinionated IDE. How about
> thinking of it like a minimal core engine (or set of engines), and
> installable components that can provide authoring and editing capabilities
> if needed?

A more modular IDE architecture has been hoped for here for more than a 
decade, and is finally coming about:

My understanding is that's exactly what they're doing now, factoring the 
IDE from its current monolithic form into a set of components that work 
with a slender core and are interchangeable with community-made 
components if desired.

Might be nice if they considered a hierarchical binding as I discussed 
here last month( 
<http://lists.runrev.com/pipermail/use-livecode/2015-October/219830.html> ), 
but even if we have to subscribe to every individual message it's a big 
step forward.


> More like Node + Node Package Manager (npm) + Express? So we would have the
> engines - JavaScript, and various platforms, we would have a package
> manager, and maybe a good minimal reference app.
>
> npm install livecode

Peter and I discussed this a while back and my understanding is that any 
UI delivered to manage components will be driven by library commands, 
similar to rpm or apt, so others in the community can build alternatives 
and extensions on top of them just as they can with inspectors, object 
browsers, script editors, etc.


Geoff Canyon wrote:
> I have no objection to the overall concept, but I'd suggest one thing: with
> many development environments, getting stated involves many steps. One of
> the great things about LC is that you download an installer, hit install,
> open the IDE, and start developing. Any modification to the IDE should try
> to maintain that simplicity.

My understanding is that most folks will never see the difference.  80% 
of software user never change default preferences, and while power users 
will enjoy being able to mix and match components the average developer 
should be able to just install the IDE and get to work with a good tool 
set ready to go.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com