[Info-vax] Modern software development for VMS, was: Re: source control and semantics (Re: Why so much Unix envy?)

[David Froble]

Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2014-09-14 16:40:08 +0000, David Froble said:
> 
>> I confess, I don't understand this "modern software development" and 
>> using cross compilers.  What's wrong with using a VMS system?  What's 
>> wrong with directories containing source files, build files, and such?
> 
> Some folks happen to like and use IDEs, and some don't.
> 
> IDEs vary (greatly) in features and quality and performance.
> 
> And it's often an IDE that's a key factor when discussing cross-platform 
> development — though not always.
> 
> Cross-architecture and cross-platform tools are fairly common.  These 
> remote capabilities are the underpinnings of many Eclipse and NetBeans 
> environments.   Xcode provides something similar for iOS development, 
> and Visual Studio with Team Foundation Server or Xamarin, too.   Going 
> remote gets around the requirements for various services and features on 
> the client platform; where you can effectively treat the target platform 
> as embedded.  OpenVMS isn't that far off an embedded platform in the way 
> it's been packaged and sold in recent years, for that matter.
> 
> Beyond baseline application development using an IDE, VSI will very 
> likely be using cross-architecture tools for the initial part of the x86 
> port, as that lets VSI use an existing and debugged platform as the 
> foundation, up until VMS x64 can self-host its builds.

For this I can see the requirement for cross platform tools.

> Not having to maintain build procedures and the rest, and getting an 
> application package provided for the developer — basically allowing you 
> to go from source files and source-integrated debugging (well beyond 
> what typing EDIT in the VMS debugger gets you) to regular and 
> debug-built images to a proper PCSI installation kit, in VMS terms — 
> would be pretty handy to have, no?
> 
> 

What I cannot understand, and I admit I've never seen such tools, is 
what can they do for me when I'm developing in BASIC for a VMS 
environment on my VMS environment.

Could I appreciate something that would be checking my code as I type? 
Maybe.  Visual Basic V6 does that, and sometimes I appreciate it, and 
sometimes I curse it.  Not saying that every tool would be the same.

I have procedures for building an executable after modifications. 
Simple.  Works.  Ain't broke.  I imagine that something else will 
actually be more work for me.