From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Received: by 2002:ac8:5513:: with SMTP id j19mr12312904qtq.143.1581607920154; Thu, 13 Feb 2020 07:32:00 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 2002:a9d:4f02:: with SMTP id d2mr13188258otl.368.1581607919860; Thu, 13 Feb 2020 07:31:59 -0800 (PST) Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!news.gegeweb.eu!gegeweb.org!usenet-fr.net!proxad.net!feeder1-2.proxad.net!209.85.160.216.MISMATCH!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!postnews.google.com!google-groups.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 07:31:59 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: google-groups.googlegroups.com; posting-host=47.185.239.228; posting-account=zwxLlwoAAAChLBU7oraRzNDnqQYkYbpo NNTP-Posting-Host: 47.185.239.228 References: User-Agent: G2/1.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: <7af36aa3-6347-46e5-a4ee-5eb85f51b5ef@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Advice on best environment for Ada on Windows From: Optikos Injection-Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:32:00 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Xref: reader01.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:58047 Date: 2020-02-13T07:31:59-08:00 List-Id: On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 11:13:16 PM UTC-6, Rick Newbie wrote: > I'm new to Ada and slowly getting into my first small programs. The=20 > question that arises soon after the first steps is that of the best=20 > working environment, so I wanted to hear what the regular Ada users work= =20 > with. >=20 > So far I have identified three possible scenarios: >=20 > 1) GPS only. While GPS looks good it becomes rather fickle when you=20 > start working with it. The underlying Python stuff seems to be a=20 > constant source of trouble, some scripts that come with GPS are flat out= =20 > buggy etc. While it is good to work with the project hierarchy and=20 > getting online help, the editor is simply not up to the job, not to=20 > mention the shaky interaction with external programs most notably gdb. >=20 > 2) GPS with an external text editor. I installed Emacs and am working=20 > through their tutorial as well. I have been a Visual Studio user for=20 > many years and thus I am spoiled but back in the 90s, I was working on=20 > some Wordstar compatible editor, can't remember the name, and with=20 > Watcom C compiler which was all pretty basic so I'm no stranger to a=20 > retro looking command line environment. I know Emacs has an Ada module=20 > which I haven't installed yet but I assume it will be working fine since= =20 > I read a lot about it. >=20 > 3) Then there is Slickedit. That one looks great and even has a built in= =20 > Ada browser. The problem is it is basically impossible to compile a=20 > gprbuild script from within Slickedit, at least I couldn't get it going= =20 > and from my conversation on their forum it seems they don't get it=20 > working either. Slickedit also has problems with reference building=20 > often times it does not recognize identifiers that it should have=20 > tagged, but hasn't. Also the "Gnat Ada project" option does not=20 > recognize the Ada include directory, you have to create a new "other"=20 > project and then set up everything Ada related by hand. >=20 > At the moment I tend to solution 2, although I have to learn the use of= =20 > Emacs on top of it all, but that seems to be rather simple with some=20 > cheat sheet, unless installing the Ada module requires fiddling with=20 > Lisp scripts since I know absolutely nothing about Lisp. >=20 > So what does everyone else use? What is the best solution here? https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=3DAlexGamper.VisualAda VisualAda* is trying hard to be the state-of-the-art for full integration o= f Ada into VisualStudio 2017 and VisualStudio 2019. This integration inclu= des Ada-WinRT, which is Ada's equivalent of C++/WinRT 1.X. (C++/WinRT 2.X = is based on the new Microsoft Xlang** language-interworking infrastructure/= code-generator, but VisualAda predates this, so it hasn't come under the Xl= ang umbrella.) * open-sourced in pieces at: https://github.com/Alex-Gamper?tab=3Drepositories ** open-sourced at: https://github.com/Microsoft/xlang