Eclipse IDE with Aptana

I had recently set up Aptana on Eclipse to test out HTML5/JS/CSS/PHP integrated development. Among the options:

• WTP
• Aptana Stand-alone
• Aptana Plug in
• JSEclipse

I have tested them all, starting with Aptana. At the time, the plug-in server they offer was down, so I moved on. The other options were found lacking in particulars previously detailed. Now the plug-in service is back online, so I revisited it. The verdict: In hindsight, I'm glad it was down so I could see what other options are available. Now that it is working, I can thoroughly endorse this solution. Here's why:

Full AC functionality:

Enable third-party js libraries:

Predictive incorporation of project libraries:

Rails, Python, and PHP Debug support:

I will see about PHP frameworks with unit testing next. Ah the comforts of a comprehensive IDE.

Eclipse IDE Part 2

To summarize the posts before this one, I have been exhaustively demoing IDEs for standards-based Web 2.0 site development. My prerequisites, assuming these items can be met in the vendor community, are the following:

• Content Assist for multiple languages (JS, PHP, Python)
• functional debug perspective for PHP and Python
• ability to add 3rd party and custom libraries to CA
• integrated repo management
• integrated file management
• launch run/debug perspective from IDE

I've tested out the latest Eclipse release, Helios, which I use for AS3, under several configurations, including:

• Eclipse Helios EE IDE, which includes the WTP and JSDT
• Aptana plugin for Eclipse
• JSEclipse

Collectively and individually, the results were less than ideal. At worst, I had a good editor environment with Aptana for CSS and HTML but no luck with JavaScript CA in Aptana. I did not have success with JSEclipse.

At best, Helios EE IDE provides CA only upon demand (ctrl+space), even when the preferences are set to insert CA automatically without delay. JQuery can be integrated, there is a process detailed here. I found the procedure to work though it leaves no provision to include further 3rd party JS.

Eclipse updates pt 1

This day has allowed me to explore the capabilities of Eclipse as a standards-based SDK. Perhaps not news to those who already use it for such, but since I use Flash Builder almost exclusively for Flash-based development, this is fresh territory. This further exploration came about as the result of a recent back-end dev project where the IDE options played out as either:

• TextMate
• vi on the Terminal CLI
• Coda

I haven't delved into Coda, though I have a good amount of exposure on the other two. Let me state for the record that I endorse the viability and value of TextMate as an IDE. Now, clarifications duly stated, I would like an IDE that provides:

• managing repositories such as svn and git
• code lookup and completion for JavaScript, including 3rd party libraries
• code lookup and completion for PHP
• bracket pairing assistance that is broadside-of-a-barn obvious
• local file, folder and directory management
• quick access to function and property definitions (cmd-click seeking)
• optionally, FTP management

I'd be happy to address which of these are addressed to my satisfaction in the above-listed IDEs, but for now I will summarily say none of them hit all the targets. That could be due to my own habits - perhaps blinders on my part - I would love nothing more than to be further educated on this. Beyond that, some of the newer PHP frameworks at large (CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Symfony) boast unit testing, and I would prefer an IDE with debugging breakpoints and object inspection so I can see what fury my code hath wrought in the runtime.

Thus far, I have done the following to spec up Eclipse:

1. Update to Eclipse Helios 3.6
2. Install PHP and JavaScript language packs for Eclipse
3. Install eGit for Helios (tested and working)
4. Install Aptana (see mild apprehension*)
5. Install Eclipse Web Tools

*Aptana bills itself as:

a set of application development tools for Web 2.0 and ajax for use with programming languages such as JavaScript, Ruby, PHP and Python.

They had a big buzz out of the gate as a premium solution vendor to the open-source community. By late 2009 their revenue stream was lacking to the point of significant downscaling and they have consequently reduced their support and development staff. Their current 2.x release is bemoaned as unpredictable, buggy and meretricious, resulting in retrograde support for the deprecated 1.5 version package. Furthermore, Aptana was aquired less than a month ago by an outfit called Appcelerator. In short, Aptana has a legacy of step-child treatment.

Thus my concern with installing and testing out Aptana. Since it is one of only two commonly-employed means of third-party javascript code completion, I went ahead with it. Installing Aptana is the first step. Following success with that, its proprietary set of plug-ins allows jQuery to work with it. I succeeded with the first part, but unfortunately their plug-in service has proven to be currently offline. On to the next option: Eclipse Web Tools.

Flash Actionscript vs Open Source Javascript Animation

The eye does not deceive: javascripted animation still has significant limitations. While it's perfectly suitable for image fades and graduated motion via jQuery or similar packages, more liberal applications tend to cause the jitters.

At the heart of this is a lack of graphics operation handlers - helper functions to assist processor-intensive math and graphics-array operations before they reach a bottleneck. Such co-processing operations are a cornerstone of rich media plug-in technologies like Flash and Silverlight.

In spite of this, it's interesting what can be accomplished with development kits like Processing. An open source animation suite and "electronic sketchbook for developing ideas," Processing has gained many followers in the realm of academia, while the down and dirty commercial market continues to patronize plug-in solutions.

With browser capabilities on the rise, there is a huge upside for better native animation in future browser versions. Consequently, the open source community is poised to gain more animation and graphics programming devotees.

Update: Google's Chrome is on the move with native graphics processing in javaScript. Have a look at this example via drawlogic that uses the HaXe (pron: 'hex') version of the Sandy library. You will need to launch Chrome to see it. These are some bold smoke signals for Adobe to heed.