Release 0.99 of the Open Source IDE SharpDevelop for the .NET platform has been released today. The most important change is a Forms Designer and Code Completion for Visual Basic .NET, another useful addition is the SharpQuery Database add-in. The Mono version of the free IDE, MonoDevelop, is scheduled for a first release in a few days.
SharpDevelop 0.99 Released
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I can’t wait for the MD release, I’ve played with a few snapshots, but not recently since I don’t really have the time to do any C# stuff at the moment.
I look forward to monodevelop building on the rapid success of the mono environment. The proof is in the pudding – mono/Gtk# apps like Muine are out there and useful today.
Its worth noting that in about the same time mono went from nothing to its current state, the perl6 project is still in concept/pre-release mode.
My only problem with mono is seeing .exe and .dll files in my dir. Icky, but that if they want to emulate .net I guess they have to do this.
I don’t know about the need for this since it looks like a Visual Studio clone and VC# Standard (which comes with Visual Studio IDE) is only $100, but I am impressed with the UI (esp the collapsable tool window on the left) ….
http://www.icsharpcode.net/opensource/sd
Does the standard C# toolkit come with all the widgets they’re using here, or did they just build their own? Certainly they couldn’t use 3rd party commercial widgets and then GPL the whole thing?
One other thing:
Some people have asked why you would choosse to build apps in C# instead of Java – I can only wonder if it would be possible to build a UI like this using Swing or even SWT? I’m not saying it can’t be done, I’m just curious if it’s possible.
Very cool. I’m glad to see progress on open source .Net related projects. Once it is as easy to develop apps in Linux as it is to develop VB/C# apps in Windows, Linux, and open source platforms in general, will benefit greatly.
“I can only wonder if it would be possible to build a UI like this using Swing or even SWT?”
what do you think about Eclipse? Doesn’t measure up?
I guess the big difference between MonoDevelop and VS is it will work on Linux.
And what about SharpDevelop’s integrated debugger? Is that almost done?
what do you guys think? i see an awful lot of potential in this one…
Yes, the source is strong with that one.
Only if you want to develop C# apps
i don’t see monodevelop threatening the major dev apps (kdevelop, eclipse, anjuta) just yet, its more a demo app for mono in my opinion.
even then, its not clear all these apps are in the same class. eclipse is more of a meta-IDE, and i would love to see some c# packages for it (i know of one that is so-so).
sharp develop is a really superb tool. But it’s not Visual Studio and that of course brings Plusses and Minuses. The big plus for Visual Studio is it’s power… it does absolutely everything… but with that comes immense complexity (and a very steep learning curve) Sharp Develop doesn’t do everything, it’s a programming IDE to simply .net apps (primarily c# apps, and secondarily vb.net apps) and this it does do very very well, there’s a lot of good features in #develop but it’s fairly straightforward to use and eases the user into the devleopment environment much more so that Visual studio. For the newbie developer or someone new to IDEs #develop is great, it’s a brilliant compromise between the daunting complexity of VS.net and notepad. If you want VS.net… go fork out the vs.net (it’s not cheap by any stretch of the imagination) if you want decent, clear, usable, intelligent, complex and yet easy to use and FREE #develop… go, download that.
I can only wonder if it would be possible to build a UI like this using Swing or even SWT?
Sure it’s possible, it just seems that java programmers unfortunately don’t care about polished gui’s.
By the way in a way this IS swt, since the toolkit they use is WT# ( http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SharpWT/default.aspx ) : “The Sharp Widget Toolkit (SharpWT) is a port of the Java SWT (Standard Widget Toolkit) to C# and .NET.”
“By the way in a way this IS swt, since the toolkit they use is WT#”
No, I belive you’re mistaken. They had a WT# project, but that is not used in the #develop project, and I heard it had bitten the dust.
I’m hopeful that the zealots can go beyond the fact that this is a Microsoft originated technology and see how well designed C# and the whole .NET Framework are. Anyone who has ever programmed in C# will see how much Mono and MonoDevelop are going to further accelerate development of open source apps. Keep up the great work guys…can’t wait to try this thing out!
Good to see that the VB.NET guys are getting the form designer support. SharpDevelop is definetely a great IDE for free. It’ s no Visual Studio, which I finally just recently tried and all I can say is that its incredible, but its still great free(as in beer and libre) software. It’s especially good for those wanting to learn c# and cut their teeth on a moderately complex and interesting project. If they get a integrated debugger in it then I would have to recommend it over Borland C#Builder. I can’t get C#builder personal edition smart indenting to work which is very annoying. I hope they continue to try and improve the performance of the editor because it has had issues in the past.
It’s also good to see MonoDevelop progressing. This will probably be the killer app that Mono needs. I don’t know about you, but developing c# apps in vim isn’t that much fun. Also, with Anjuta stalled, I could see this being a general IDE with plugins for c/c++ in the future(probably far future).
After a big rewrite and many years of development, KDevelop is now a world-class IDE that is the only unix IDE that is in the same league as Visual Studio. I would love for someone to write a c# plugin for it.
I actually like the .exe and .dlls. You know these are mono files. I think its bit of a misnomer to say mono is “emulating” .NET. It’s an implemention of the ecma standard with implementions of various other APIs along with mono specific assemblies.
I’ll go out on a limb and predict that Mono is going to make a bigger impact than most people are betting on. MonoDevelop will make a big impact because developing .NET apps in vim isn’t all that fun, even though it would be great to get some vim keybindings in there. I miss my vim keys in IDEs. Once developers see the great framework and gtk# bindings that Mono offers, you’ll see many converts. I think some of the key Gnome developers are warming up to Mono, which can’t hurt either.
Anjuta is in active development.
Sure, Visual Studio has a lot of features. But installing it feels like installing an operating system. Even the C# only version comes on *three* cds.
There are also various instances where it does not want to install at all or has some quirks. Just look at the relevant mailing lists.
For example, my copy tries to start the installer every time I launch it. When I click cancel it works just fine.
And if you want to do something complex you always need the full version. For example I tried to install the SML.NET version with VS.NET support, but it does not work with the C# Standard Edition. I think you need the full version which I do not want to buy since I do not have the slightest bit of interest in Visual Basic.
SharpDevelop is just a program. It is written completely in .NET, and it is quite small and usable. The only thing that is missing for a perfect experience is an integrated debugger.
I am really looking forward to MonoDevelop. This will be an excellent test case for GTK#. You can not design a GUI toolkit without some real applications that use almost all the features.
Visual Studio feels like installing an operating system because it actually took me longer to install it than XP. And it’s quirky alright, quirky enough to take down XP when the Visual Assist plugin was first enabled in Visual Studio. All versions of Visual Studio have been crash-prone, but its still a damn nice IDE. I agree that about the only thing missing from SharpDevelop is the integrated debugger. I have a feeling it won’t make into the 1.0 release but I’ll have to read the forum to see what the plans are.
With the backing of Novell/Ximian MonoDevelop should turn out to be a pretty good IDE. I just wish it would run on windows so that you could have SharpDevelop, C#builder, or VS running at the same time to check out how these IDEs do things.
“I just wish it would run on windows so that you could have SharpDevelop, C#builder, or VS running at the same time to check out how these IDEs do things.”
It is written in GTK#, so I don’t see why it should not run on windows. But there are plenty of good C# IDEs for Windows and none for linux, so the linux port obviously has the highest priority.
Mono isn’t an emulator as someone posted above, and it isn’t completely controlled by Microsoft. C# is now a standard and so is the CLI (the raw guts, metacode). The people that are developing Mono created all those classes themselves. (Microsoft said they wouldn’t support it, but they would answer their questions O_O)
I say if the #develop guys pull off a good IDE, it will greatly benefit .NET on other platforms. C# is a great language in my opinion.
Zealots please don’t crazy because it was created by Microsoft.
Keep up the good work #develop, mono!!
Visual Studio doesn’t even use that much.
<p>Its worth noting that in about the same time mono went from nothing to its current state, the perl6 project is still in concept/pre-release mode. </p>
<p>Well, Mono is an implementation of a language that was already defined, whereas perl6 is being designed from scratch.</p>
VisualStudio has a fast startup and small memory footprint because it is a C++ app but practically it uses the whole range of technologies used on the windows plattform since the last 15 years
It should be renamed under ShitDevelop, it is a piece of junk slow as hell and buggy. I admire them for the effort, but it sucks!
One of the things I have been working alot on is the performance of MonoDevelop. We have been able to get many-fold increases in some areas. Also, our editor is much faster because we use a native widget.
Its a pretty good IDE and its good for people who want to learn about C# but either dont want to or cannot afford Visual Studio, I have used it on several occasions even tho i get Whidbey betas and I have a few coworkers who swear by it, have installed it on work machines and use it exclusively. Im really excited about MonoDevelop and I hope they complete that soon because at work im looking at C# to possibly replace QT on our development efforts for linux and UNIX.
Sure, Visual Studio has a lot of features. But installing it feels like installing an operating system. Even the C# only version comes on *three* cds.
When are people going to get over the fact that when things get bigger and better its going to take longer to install and need more space.
Get over it people…..just look at games….UT2003 3 CD’s…do you complain about that?
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When are people going to get over the fact that when things get bigger and better its going to take longer to install and need more space.
Get over it people…..just look at games….UT2003 3 CD’s…do you complain about that?”
We got a lot of amazing code that is compact and usable. we dont want to use all those junk in 3 cds to use C#. games have lot of visual content, themes, sounds and videos. dont be a jerk comparing these two stuff.
WinMe
We got a lot of amazing code that is compact and usable. we dont want to use all those junk in 3 cds to use C#. games have lot of visual content, themes, sounds and videos. dont be a jerk comparing these two stuff.
so do a custom install fool or just buy C# not VS….most of the content is the MSDN so don’t install it…..and who was being a jerk….I think you.