Re: "is ada dead?" A challenge for all of us?

["McDoobie" <chris@dont.spam.me>]

In article <Oc237.18425$WS4.2897647@news6-win.server.ntlworld.com>,
"chris.danx" <chris.danx@ntlworld.com> wrote:

> Is that a feature developers would like? Integration of UML into the
> IDE?  I ask since I have no experience with UML.  I did plan to gain
> familiarity with it and did buy a book on it, but as yet haven't read
> it.
> 
> 
>> Nonetheless, if you are looking to make Ada more popular, you will have
>> to deal with beginners, and having an IDE that helps them write correct
>> code and lets them fill in the blanks to write a program that compiles
>> would be great.
> 
> I would like to cater for beginners, but I would also like to cater for
> the seasoned professional.  Doing this properly will be difficult.  One
> possible solution is that found in 1st Page 2000.  Basically, the IDE
> has 5 or 6 different modes.  Each mode is different in functionality. 
> The lowest level has limited functionality while the highest level has
> the greatest functionality. Another option would be to selectively
> disable features via an options section. Just some random thoughts.
> 
> 
> I'm off to think about how to reconfigure an IDE at runtime.  You know
> add tools to menu's and add new wizards without recompiling (and
> re-installing) the ide.
> 
> 
> Chris
> 

Ya know, any easy way to accomplish this would be to make the app 
"Themeable" ala KDE, Gnome, or Mozilla. I know theres a shareware app
out there for Windows now that makes the Windows desktop themeable 
also.
  Theres alot of flexibility there. Just set a default theme for the new-user
with plenty of instructions on customization for the expert.
  Of course, flexibility goes beyond themeing. One could provide plug-in
support for external apps, such as TeX/LaTeX if one wants to print thier
code,  a CVS browser. All kinds of possibilities.  One does not necessarily
need to code every last bit(pun intended) from scratch. After all, isnt that
one of Adas strong points? Code Reuse? Heh.

I've posted a bunch of times in the last day. I just realized, I'm on vacation.
Heh.

McDoobie
chris@dont.spam.me