Antoine, I very much agree with you... until you start saying that
Emacs might do the trick ;-)
I am using emacs day and night lately , I might be biased ..
Emacs is indeed very portable, very powerful, but also extremely scary
at first sight, in particular if you're not used to coding. Although
it is not impossible to master it, it requires a lot of implication
from the end user, which is not a good thing.
Not true ...
I think if we use CUA( cut and paste like windows)
Hide everything scary, create menu and toolbox. Therefore dumbing down emacs, write clear install direction maybe it will be manageable for "normal" people ?
I would rather use eclipse which, from a certain point of view, is
"emacs 30 years later" : the "interface for everything and nothing in
particular" approach, plus a certain degree of "cleanliness".
It may not be the sexiest of environments, but one can easily build a
very powerful user interface without coding the whole thing from
scratch.
That is an excellent possibility I overlook.
It is a strong choice, I dont think emacs will dye anytime soon but Eclispe has surely a larger user base, strong corporate support and a modern look and feel.
Some issue :
Interactive ability ?
we should look to Python and co plug-in to see what they do.
Displaying math ? Is there some work done there ?
I guess using latex back-end to generate png might be an option.
Managing noweb and latex, how much work will it be ?
Do yo want to investigate Pierre ?
In general how many people able to work on the project have good java skill ?
How many for elisp ?
I am sure we will be able to get other CAS interested to such a project.
I know by experience that Pierre is quite skilled in Java :)
Regards,
Antoine Hersen
On 4/13/06, Antoine Hersen <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My experience is making a good UI is a lot of works( aka way more than you
> imagine), especially if you go out the basic widget. ( I had a 30 line long
> rent there ).
>
> Before choosing a solution we should set goals and there relative
> importance. My try :
>
> + Attracting new user :
> - sexy look
> - toolbox
> - template
>
> + Productive Environment :
> - easy to write pages long code :
> - pretty print
> - indentation
> - source code management
> - Good integration with the debugger
> - A easy work flown( edit, compile, test)
> - An know script langange( scheme, python)
>
> + Axiom specific
> - Ease the write of pamphlet( writing literate programs is a lot of added
> work, that does not benefit the writer that much, so we should make it easy
> as possible
>
> The candidates :
> + Web based, Browser based : for Mozilla http://www.xulplanet.com/ maybe
> using MathML.
> Personally I have mixed fealling, it is very hip and I will like for the
> tools to mature( think about Java UI for exemple Map... )
>
> + TeXmacs, the screenshot does looks good.
>
> + My big favorite imaxima :
>
http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/imaxima/Site/Welcome.html
>
> Why :
> Emacs work everywhere, with extensive menu an icon it is not that scary.
>
> We should be able to manage pamphlet in a elegant way. And think about
> everything that is already included, source code management, non various
> charset ....
>
> And very powerful and well documented language elisp !!!!
>
> + Start from scratch ( using
http://mcclim.cliki.net/index )
>
> Other issue( I am sure it has been discussed before) :
> - Improved documentation browser aware of pamphlet
> - Improved plot 2D, 3D viewer.
>
> Some of this issue are problems common to all open source CAS, common
> solution will have more hands working on it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Antoine Hersen
>
> PS : About debugging it is mostly a language tools issue,
>
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>
>
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