Category:Tools: Difference between revisions

Developer Tools Section

This section gives the OS/2 and eComStation developer a list of available tools: What they do, how to get them, and links to related stuff, like an EDM/2 article covering the issue. And not the least: The "Discussion" section of each entry allows to add personal comments, experiences and opinions.

This collection is far from complete and will never be perfect! But thanks to the "Wiki" technology everybody can contribute. First of all, add your comments and experiences to the "Discussion" section. Furthermore you can add your own favorite tools, and finally you can even correct unprecise or false statements in the existing entries (as any developer knows: errors happen!).

Many times there are discussions about "which is better for OS/2: VAC, GCC or Watcom?". To a certain extent this is useful (and it can easily happen here in the "discussion" parts of every page). But still there will never be the one-size-fits-all toolset, because here somebody wants to port existing software, there somebody needs platform independence and there again somebody wants to start a new project from scratch and work as "native" a possible on the OS/2 or eComStation platform! So it looks more helpful to just describe and discuss the available tools, so everybody can make up his/her mind.

It's also not just about "which compiler is the best", because there are many other things making life for a programmer easier (or more difficult): editors, debuggers, help utilities, code libraries etc. Some of these come in packages with others, but many of them can also be used in different combinations. So if somebody wants to combine "the best tools of all worlds" this can happen! But then you need some information about the single tools, not only the package as a whole. This is why you will find sections about "VAC/C++" in the "Full packages" section, but more entries about VAC/C++ in several other sections. Of course this cannot be done for each and every miniature tool that might be included...

So in order not to let this section become an unordered heap of stuff, please follow a few simple rules when adding your own contributions:

1. Add your contributions to the right section. If you see that a certain package fits in several sections (like VAC/C++, OpenWatcom etc.), please add entries to the "Packages" section and extra entries to all other relevant sections, describing the different parts of the package (compiler, editor, debugger etc.). Since you can (or even: should!) use links, you do not need to duplicate any text.
2. Follow the general format of the existing entries:
   • a "Description" giving a general idea of what the tool does,
   • then a "Source and References" part with any relevant links
   • and finally a "License" statement.
3. Add your personal comments and experiences to the "Discussion" section that belongs to each and every "Wiki" entry (and not to the main text): They may become the starting point of a discussion, adding other viewpoints from other developers.

Categories

Full Packages

This includes full development packages, containing elements like compiler(s), make tools, debuggers etc. The most important single tools from any package should be also entered in the appropriate sections below.

Developer's Toolkits for OS/2

Integrated Developer's Environments (IDE)

GUI frameworks integrating all necessary development tools into one surface. Note: Most programmer's editors can also be configured to serve as simple IDEs

Editors

Source code and special editors for development purposes

Make Tools

Tools for applying all kinds of actions (like: compiling, linking etc.) depending on rules and dependencies.

Online Help Compilers and Tools

Source Code Generators

Facilities for automatically generating source code

Binary Code Generators (Compilers, Linkers etc.)

Tools for generating binary code (like intermediate *.obj files, executables, run time libraries, binary ressources, compiled documentation like *.inf or *.hlp files) from source code.

Code Interpreters

Interpreters for interpreted or scripting languages

• REXX
• Object REXX
• Perl
• Haskell
• Lotus Script
• Python

Debugging Tools

Debugging tools, including debuggers, trace tools etc.

Code Libraries

Code libraries

Installers

Installation tools for distributing any software package

Versioning