Two Questions

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Programming/Two Questions

Two questions, and sorry if this isn't the most appropriate forum:

First, It has been nearly 6 months since the 1.28 release. Any idea when the next one will be made available and what kind of updates will be included (I don't work with the SVN version unless I need to).

Second, will we ever see the official IDE improved under Linux? Will we see the official IDE improve on any platform? I know BRL has more of a desire to get the Max3D module finished, but the IDE is what new users SEE when they start up BlitzMax. It is how we INTERACT with BlitzMax. How many potential customers have looked at BlitzMax only to disregard it because the IDE lacks polish, features, and stability?

I have nothing but the utmost respect for the amazing product that Mark/BRL has produced, but I really feel like an improved IDE on all platforms is long overdue. And while I think the CE IDE is a good idea, I only wish that maintaining compatibility on ALL platforms would be the community's priority. Cross-platform support should be oath of all BlitzMax'ers, for it is the only thing that really makes BlitzMax stand out from the crowd.

I think Ziggy should get an award for his efforts. Granted, his IDE is not cross-platform, but without BLIde I would have abandoned BlitzMax development 2 years ago out of sheer frustration.

Warpy

I've switched to BLIde as well. It's a bit hardcore in terms of project features and the autocompletion and everything, but I can edit code in it without getting massively frustrated, which is a bonus.

tonyg

From Mark's Worklog dated 2007-05-19

* IDE

The new IDE is coming along nicely! Here's the latest:

I've moved the bmk output window to a splitview below the source, so you can see both at once - ESC to toggle on/off ala VC6. Also note that the source code view can be split.

The debugger is standalone and can be launched multiple times. This makes it much easier to develop network style apps.

All in all, the IDE is pretty much fully functional now, although it will in the short term lack some the current IDE's features. In particular, I have big plans for the right hand 'project view' pane and will wait until these plans are clearer before implementing anything clever here.

I guess we should accept that Bmax has been abandoned.

degac

For the first question BRL could do what others do with their program/drivers (ie:ATI-AMD with Catalyst year-month and Ubuntu year-month name convention). Maybe every first Jan - Apr - Jul - Sep BRL could release a 'complete & fresh' package/installer with all the fix and little improvements of previous quarter. Something like BlitzMax 1.28-2008.09.exe [...something readable :D]. Of course the 'main' release (1.30 - 1.32 etc) will remain.

For the second question: just use other third-party tools (Blide, MaxIDE CE,...) - BRL has already said that the prioriry is (at the moment) the 3d engine-lib-sdk.

smilertoo

I would have preferred to see linux support dropped and more focus on mac/windows.