[CM] More XP & CLM

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

Dave Phillips wrote:
> Alas, by this time I've forgotten what it's like to work with Windows, 
> and I know nothing about setting up a development environment. I am 
> considering setting up a machine to test and use Windows music and 
> sound software, but I doubt I'll have the time to dedicate to 
> development on that box.
My friends on the Ruby language list believe, and I agree, that one 
should always use the native development tools if possible. While Ruby 
and its trappings do work and work well under Cygwin, Cygwin is 
deprecated and the preferred tool set is Visual Studio. Unfortunately, a 
number of the C-language extensions won't compile and link correctly 
with Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Express is "free as in beer" only. 
So there is that bit of tension in developing in Ruby for Windows. I 
should point out that the vast majority of "real Ruby developers" work 
on Macs. :)

In any event, a Windows "native" development environment for the amateur 
would center around Visual Studio Express. If one were also using 
scripting languages (Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, etc.) it would include the 
recently released free-as-in-beer ActiveState Komodo Editor 4. 
(Actually, it's still in beta, but it's in reasonable shape). If one 
were a "vi" addict it would include GVim and if one were an Emacs person 
it would include Emacs. If you need or want Perl, Python, or Tcl/Tk, it 
would include the ActiveState free-as-in-beer ports of those. I'm not an 
expert on Lisp on Windows -- I don't even remember which Lisps and 
Schemes have native Windows ports, but there must be at least one of each.

-- 
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky, FBG, AB, PTA, PGS, MS, MNLP, NST, ACMC(P)
http://borasky-research.blogspot.com/

If God had meant for carrots to be eaten cooked, He would have given rabbits fire.