Re: source code browser for C / C++ code
On Feb 5, 5:15 pm, "Alf P. Steinbach" <al...@start.no> wrote:
* Victor Bazarov:
Rahul wrote:
which is the best source code browser for c / c++ source code... on
windows.. [..]
Why don't you ask in a Windows programming newsgroup?
On the other hand, apart from the "best" (which IMO is meaningless) it
is a useful question of broad interest, bringing in the general problem
of parsing tools for C++ and support for such tools, and especially
important for novices/beginners who need to "tool up" to get started.
It may be, however, that the only practically useful answer is "your
favorite editor/IDE".
I once used a tool called Sniff+, which was very good for
browsing. I don't know if it's still around, however.
Not quite the same thing, but the back engineering features of
tools like Rose or Together can be useful for getting a grip on
large blocks of code. (For understanding existing code, Sniff+
is considerably better, but for designing new code, Rose or
Together would be superior. Ideally, you'd integrate the two of
them, but I don't know if they'd work very well together.)
Visual Studio Express is free but Windows only. CodeBlocks,
DevC++, Eclipse, Komodo etc. (I'm not sure whether Komodo
supports C++) are free and cross-platform. Emacs is AFAIK
free and cross-platform and very customizable but I don't know
about its support for browsing C++ code*.
It (and vim) use a separate program (tags, or ctags, or
something like that) to generate the labels for browsing. Both
also support things like folding, which can be useful.
(*) Of course here I'm revealing that I don't use Emacs, which as I
gather almost everybody else do.
Only the youngsters, who don't know any better. The real
programmers only use vim:-).
At the time I was introduced to Emacs the version I was
exposed to was very very primitive, and it was beyond my ken
how anybody could willingly choose to subject themselves to
such torture.
You too:-).
Reportedly Emacs has become more user-friendly over the years.
Not really. Emacs and vim have a somewhat different definition
of "user-friendly"---they are not friendly to beginners, and
require some "learning". Once you learn them, however, they are
exceptionally "friendly", in that they allow you to do very
complex tasks easily.
I learned vim (actually vi) and emacs back in the days when
there wasn't anything else (except ed) on the machines I was
working on. If I didn't already know them, I don't know if I'd
learn them today---they do rather intimidate when you first
encounter them. But knowing them does make me far more
productive. And since the editor is the tool you use the most,
investing in the effort to learn a powerful one is worth it in
the long run.
--
James Kanze (GABI Software) email:james.kanze@gmail.com
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