Re: Is it GUI? Or is it IDE?

[Daniel J Sebald]

On 08/28/2012 08:32 AM, Mike Miller wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 02:01:55AM -0500, Daniel J Sebald wrote:
> > On 08/27/2012 12:28 PM, Michael D Godfrey wrote:
> > > Has there been enough chance for review to
> > > say it is time to make the switch from GUI to IDE?
> > >
> > > The sooner the better, I would say.
> >
> > Hasn't been enough feedback yet.  Max?  Carnë?  Jordi?  Others?
>
> My opinion is that it's simply Octave.

Irrespective of other points, this is not exactly a true statement.  To 
clarify, there is a big hunk of code added in the form of an editor that 
is not under the aegis of the Octave project.  Semantics perhaps, but I 
don't think so.


> To compare, when I run gvim or emacs and they bring up their
> non-console-mode GUIs, I don't think "Vim GUI" or "Emacs GUI", nor IDE,
> they are just vim and emacs.

There's a distinction in my mind between "vi" and "gvim".  (I sort of 
skip past "vim".)  To clarify, neither of these two are an IDE, simply 
an editor.  Yes, those editors can act as an interface to compilers, but 
I don't think that is enough to classify it as an integration of 
different tools.  Maybe others disagree.


> > There is still an open question from John about what the perceived
> > expected nomenclature is for a user interface.
>
> I doubt anyone has statistics, but my perception is that users are
> asking for a GUI.
>
> > I'll pose a couple more open ended questions:
> >
> > Does this new interface qualify as an IDE, either now or in the future?
>
> I don't see it as an IDE. To me an IDE is for software development.

Is that generally the understanding, i.e., that "development" means 
software development, as opposed to say research development?  (Not sure 
I know the answer.)


> There has to be some value-added specifically to a programming /
> software development task. Our GUI for Octave is a graphical shell. It
> does everything that console-mode Octave does, just in a different
> representation.

I would certainly say it is integrated and does more than what 
console-mode does because of the added editor.

I also posed the question looking toward the future.  I'm curious about 
what the road map is for the GUI/IDE.  The way things go, users will 
eventually say "oh, it's okay, but if it only had XYZ", and with more 
users there could be more requests for more features.


> > What confusion can be created by choosing either expression?
>
> Octave users often do not think of themselves as programmers, to
> paraphrase Jordi. If they see Octave IDE, they may think that concept is
> not appropriate to their task.

Good point.  But somehow that is less of a concern as I view it.  If 
there is one thing about the up and coming generation it is that they 
are computer tech savvy.  IDE isn't beyond them.

I believe it is quite common to think of Matlab/Octave users as 
programmers.  I often see the skill listed alongside C/C++ in job adverts.

Dan