[MonoDevelop] Request for Mission Statement

[Todd Berman]

Hey,

	I addressed Chris' email just a minute ago, but I feel this is worth a
response as well.

Comments inline.

On Thu, 2004-01-08 at 07:43, Jonathan Darrer wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> This morning Chris asked a question about which platforms/runtimes the IDE 
> would be targeted at - I have some basic questions too. I think a good 
> solution would be to have some sort of mission statement. Answers to 
> questions, such as the following, would go a long way towards focusing 
> efforts and clearing confusion (not to mention introduction to the 
> project...):
> * What is the main purpose of the project?

Basically, to provide a usable IDE for C# developers running on any .net
platform using Gtk# as the toolkit (great crossplatformability (hah, is
that a word?))

Secondary to this is to provide a platform for other components sorely
needed (a mono debugger gui tiein, a nice gtk# aware forms designer,
etc, etc).

Just as a brief bit of history:

Initially when miguel and I were speaking about this project, we quickly
realized we had two basic ways to go. 1) Start from scratch 2) Port
existing work. We quickly abandoned starting from scratch (although, I
will admit, the idea did appeal to me in a sick twisted sort of way ;)
). Now, once we realized we were heading down the Porting aisle, we
looked at our available options. We had a couple 'known' requirements at
that point:

#1) Must use Gtk# (We both felt more comfortable with it, and thats just
our preference).
#2) Must be in C# (duh).
#3) Must be as crossplatform as possible (Why restrict our audience?).

We felt that porting #D over say, extending/porting anjuta or any other
existing C gtk+ linux gui, would be a far easier and more manageable
task, as the core logic is quality C# no matter what toolkit you stick
on top of it.

After examining all of these options, we decided to try to port over
just the text editor widget from SWF to Gtk# as a test to see what kinda
ride we were getting into. Miguel then left for his brazilian vacation
and another hacker, pedro joined me in the port. We made pretty quick
progress and by the time miguel even found an internet connection down
there, we were pretty heavy onto the idea of porting #D.

> * Who is the IDE targeted at, primarily?

Everyone who might need an IDE.

> * What main features should it incorporate?

That is something that needs to be addressed by the users as well as the
developers over the next little bit.

> 
> I realise it's still pretty much early days, and the answers to these 
> questions are likely to change as the project develops. While they are 
> current (and the answers well thought out), these kinds of documents can be 
> really useful.
> 
> I guess my interest lies in the development of the Website, but this sort of 
> information should prove useful to all. Todd, I'll mail you regarding the 
> Website.
> 
> Jonathan
> 
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