CFML Builder by Railo
Pure Speculation
This is not reality. This is simply speculation. By looking at a few logical points, one can easily trace a path from Mark Drew and CFEclipse to a new open-source editor produced by Railo Technologies. As of now, such a product, let alone a concept, does not exist.
Points of Logic
The speculation leading to an open-source CFML editor follows a few simple points of logic:
- Mark Drew is currently the driving force behind CFEclipse.
- CFEclipse is an open-source CFML editor built on Eclipse
- CFEclipse has kind of stagnated due to the need for development resources.
- Mark Drew now works as the CEO of Railo Technologies UK.
- Railo is an open-source CFML engine produced by Railo Technologies.
- Adobe is creating a ColdFusion editor based on Eclipse code-named Bolt.
Tying It All Together
If Railo Technologies decided to put some resources behind Mark Drew with the express purpose of expanding out CFEclipse, they could easily do so. Such a product, which we'll refer to as CFML Builder, would be quick to market simply because it's built on a pre-existing codebase. This would be an open-source equivalent to Bolt, much as Railo is an open-source equivalent to the ColdFusion server.
How Do We Make It Happen?
As this is all speculation, we have no idea if Railo Technologies is actually doing this or not. But we can convince them that this is a good idea. Contact them. Ask them if there's any thought of such a product. Don't badger them, but put the idea in their heads. If 1,000+ ColdFusion programmers all ask about such a product, the chances of it becoming a reality are greater. The idea here is to show them that this is something that the community desires.
What I Want Out of It
I'm an unabashed HomeSite user. I've tried to use CFEclipse over the years, and just could not get into it, especially as it didn't do what I needed. If a few simple things were added to an editor, I would move. The main thing I use in HomeSite is the right-click Expression Builder. After that, I use the tag wizards and the help. I know all the tags; I know all the functions. But for some obscure ones, being able to see the exact spelling or arguments is useful. The ability to see things like the format options for dateformat(), timeformat(), and numberformat() is also a big reason for using the Expression Builder. I'm sure others have specific features of HomeSite which they truly enjoy, and you can find numerous posts from ColdFusion-Talk and various blogs discussing it. On the whole, I don't see the features that I want as being insurmountable, and I'm sure the features that others want would also be rather simple to put in. All that's needed is the resources to make it happen - resources that Railo Technologies could provide.
I too could never "get into" Eclipse. There's quite a few things I find distasteful about it, but I think they stem from it's core nature (and the underlying Java) and so would not be solved by yet another Eclipse-based clone. What I would love is for one of the other IDEs to step up their CFML support.
@Mark The time spent on upgrading CFEclipse would be well worth it due to the instant recognition Railo would get for sponsoring it. This could easily turn into dollars as Railo is a service company and a service company needs to be seen.
If I was at Railo, I'd do an analysis of what is available for sponsorship and what the return on it would be. CFEclipse gives a huge boost in recognition. Google ads can be relatively inexpensive and even at a 1% return rate will generate business. Sponsoring a conference (cf.objective, cfunited, etc.) presents Railo to a target audience and allows for 'face time' which can build business and reputation at the same time. There are other sponsorships such as magazines, podcasts, and other targeted media that will give the same exposure but will have the additional effect of showing community support. This is always a good idea.
For quite a while, I shared Kay's feelings about CFEclipse/Eclipse and there are still a number of things about CFEclipse that I'm not crazy about. I /am/ however using Eclipse and there are aspects of it that I have come to really like. I use Rob Rohan's AFAE plugin (a general purpose text editor with a pretty powerful syntax highlighting capability, and I have contributed some mods to the CFML and related modes to that project); it meets most of my needs in a manner compatible with the way I work.
The other editor/IDE that has always intrigued me and seems like it would represent a great platform for CFML support is ActiveState's Komodo Edit (free) and Komode IDE (paid). I spent some time a couple years ago looking at how to provide CFML support but just couldn't get my head around their syntax mode stuff. It's a tremendous platform as a cross-platform, cross-language, extensible editor.
1) BLOT - i currently have eclipse opened with 3 plugins (cfeclipse, aptana and subclipse) and it's eating up 372megs. that's insane. there is no reason why eclipse needs that much memory to run.
2) SOFTWARE UPDATES - is it just me or does the software update function seem really flaky. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and it always seems to want to crash when i'm uninstalling a plugin. not to mention that sometimes when installing an update it won't let you do it because another update or plugin is required to update the one you want to update :P why can't it download everything that's required so i can install the thing and if i can't, why can't i remove it so i'm bothered by it all the time? i think i just made myself sick.
3) BUILDING WORKSPACE - whoever was responsible for this, i will find you, i will torture you by sticking rabid ferrets down you pants and I will laugh at your agony as I know you are laughing at mine. why, oh why does it take forever for eclipse to build the workspace. actually, what the heck is the workspace and why does it even need building? i can see all my folders and files, yet i need for this insane process to complete before the file i want to edit opens up in the editor.
i'm going to go cry now :(