macOS Customizing Xcode 3.0

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Well... I'm in a big dilemma. I'm trying to learn many programming languages at the moment (Python, C, C++, PHP, refreshing JavaScript), and I'm having organizational troubles.

The thing is that at the moment, I'm using Terminal for running Python, vim for C/C++ and Dreamweaver for PHP and JavaScript. And I'm not satisfied at all at this point. As I said, I'm having organizational troubles. I'd like to be able to do everything from one application.

My current needs are code indentation and highlighting, auto-completion and code suggestions.

So far, Python is the nicest, and C/C++ THE WORST. I tried using Xcode, and deleted it after two days or so. It creates too many files if I start a project (because, for some retarded reasons, I can't simply create a new file oO), and... the interface has too many things I don't need AT ALL. This being said, I moved to vim. It was nice at first, but now, it gives me headaches. Say I want to write a simple program. I start the Terminal, type vim, type :e filename, press I, write my program (I don't like it at all -- I want the braces and parentheses to close immediately and have my cursor between them, but I haven't found a customization command for that. and I think this is the worst part of it), type :w filename, and then right-click the Terminal.app in the dock, New Window, type the compilation command, and then execute the file. Say there's a compilation error. Get back to vim, and do the last steps again. THERE ARE TOO MANY STEPS FOR NOTHING.

Dreamweaver is OK, I've managed to customize it today to suit my needs, but it has many bugs, and it can be clearly seen that it has been thought as a Windows application.

Today, I reinstalled Xcode, and got all the problems back. But I still feel with a little bit of customization, it can be the dream tool.

So what I'd like it to have is a tabbed interface, get rid of the obsolete parts in the attached screenshots, make it lighter, and I think everything else is included.

How can I achieve this? Oh, and... is there any word related to Xcode 4.0? Is it going to come with Snow Leopard, or are we waiting for Xcode 3.2 for now?

Thanks in advance!

 

[lee1210]

I can help with very little, but I'll tell you what I do know:
In vi(m), when you are ready to compile:
:! make myFile ; ./myFile

Assuming it's a one file program, that's it. If you have more files, if you make a makefile, you can just do make <targetname>, etc. and get it done. If there are errors, you are right back in to the editor to fix them, and from then on:
:!
then hit up arrow and you should be right back to the command. If you do want to open a new window, Cmd/Apple+n will give you a new terminal, no mousing needed.

-Lee

 

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Yes, well... :! makes the command entered behave as if it were entered in the Terminal itself.

I think I'm going to do some testing. When on Windows, I was using Code::Blocks. It's also got an OS X port, but it's the hell of a buggy one. I'll try writing a program in both vim and Code::Blocks and see which one goes the fastest. Xcode is in the Trash again, it's simply too bloated.

Isn't there any other IDE you can recommend? From my point of view, OS X sucks big time at programming tasks. I can't find a DECENT tool. Well... I'll keep looking for now

 

[lee1210]

Have you tried Eclipse? It seems pretty able, though I don't know that you'll find it less bloated than XCode. Honestly, most people find XCode to be an excellent tool once they adjust to it. It is unfortunate that it doesn't fit your needs. I do not develop full-time on my Mac, but when I am coding it's either quick tools in vim with gcc, which is the programming environment I am most comfortable with, or XCode for anything bigger (or anything at all Objective-C related, so I can use code completion, etc.).

Hopefully your search finds something you are comfortable with.

-Lee

P.S.

Yes, well... :! makes the command entered behave as if it were entered in the Terminal itself.

This is exactly what I want to do when I am compiling something. Where else might one enter the command?

 

[plinden]

I can't help you with autocompletion of code blocks (I don't think it's possible) but there are some things you can do to make vim easier.

For one, if you can't stand the Terminal based vim, download and install MacVim.

Make sure syntax highlighting and auto-indent is on. I have a .vimrc file that I kept with me for ... must be 20 years now ... that has all my vim formatting set up.

Take a look at this link (I didn't do any of this ... I like keeping vim simple) - http://arstechnica.com/open-source/...-to-get-your-favorite-ide-features-in-vim.ars

If you want a more IDE-oriented program, try Eclipse with the C/C++ plugins. Eclipse also supports syntax highlighting and formatting for Python, with the Pydev plugin, and web-based code.

 

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I gave Eclipse a try and it is the best I could find.

The thing is, I like the CLI-based vim, but it gets redundant when you have to reenter the same information an awkward number of times. In fact, I wanted to give a C program a try, but thinking about the steps, I backed off, which is not good at all. It basically took productivity away.

What I'd like to have is a combination between vim and Eclipse's code-editing capabilities. In fact, I don't use anything else except for the textarea. But Eclipse's one is the one which suits me best, as it does exactly what I wanted: close the braces and parenthesis for me, and put the cursor in the middle of it, exactly where I need it.

What I don't like about it is the IDE part. I have to go through 320948 menus in order to be able to create a new file, but once you're done, you're pretty much set.

I think I'll stick to it for now.

@lee1210 I think for the true developers, Xcode could be awesome. But I only need to write simple programs, and... lots of it, because I'm still learning. Xcode also gets redundant. At first, I used it, and it was the same thing which caused me to leave vim: the redundancy. I've always had to deselect the actual compiled file as a target, create a new file, and then select it for target. Also had to uncheck Create a *.h header file each time I created the new file. Pff...

And yes, Eclipse really does it for me. At least for now Not to mention it has a built-in Console, so Terminal does not have do launch everytime I want to test something out.