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How to set up a new IDE language environment

At work, we use a proprietary language, and for programming we use Notepad ++ with simple code highlighting. This is really annoying, so I want to spend some time setting up a text editor or an existing IDE to support my language.

I have a lot of googled, and there are so many options, and before I get to work, I want to ask you what is the best choice. I want to make it so that, like the IDE, highlight syntax, a window with a tree of functions list, with local function variables inside the same subtree, maybe text autocomplete (if I type “pro”, I would like to see the sentence “procedure” ", and if I press enter, he will write me something like

procedure "name" { --code-- }

with the cursor on the "name", ready to change it. etc. etc.

Can you suggest me the right way? Should I use Notepad ++? With source code? functionlist? Or do I need to switch to another text editor? Or are there some well-known IDEs like Eclipse, NetBeans, etc. that make it easy to add my own language?

PS. my language is quite simple, I do not have complex structures, this is Pascal-like. Something like that:

 variable int xyz PROCEDURE asd BEGIN END PROCEDURE asd
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4 answers

I would recommend you stay with Notepad ++ and extend it with some plugins and configuration. That would be pretty quick and easy to set up and still give a big win, even if you can't get all the nice features of something like Eclipse. But since you already know Notepad ++, this will not require learning a completely new tool.

Some plugins I found useful

Most likely, this may be useful for you.

Notepad ++ also received some built-in auto-completion features that can be enabled in the settings.

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Have you rated Eclipse XTEXT ?

What is an Xtext?

Xtext is the foundation for developing programming languages ​​and domain languages.

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The only IDE I've used in the past few years is Eclipse . There are many other IDEs available, also noteworthy and popular Netbeans . There are many others. It is important to note that all IDEs have their fans, but I can only speak with Eclipse.

Eclipse is a platform that means it is an application on which you can create other applications. Eclipse provides a framework that you can customize and extend to create a working application. He takes care of the user interface, the preference for storage, modulation using OSGi and much more.

Eclipse has the ability to support what you are looking for:

  • Syntax highlighting in the editor.
  • Outline View provides a list of functions and variables in the tree.
  • Autofill and suggestions (activated by pressing ctrl-space)
  • Code templates for filling files and procedures, etc.

The downside is that setting up and extending Eclipse to do what you want is not trivial. By writing a language debugger for Eclipse, I can tell you that using the Eclipse platform has helped a lot, but there is a learning curve. You, in fact, will need to come up with a new set of plugins to provide you with highlighting, description, suggestions and autocomplete templates (I'm not sure if the template support is built into the platform or not).

So, I would say if you cannot find some extensible editor for Eclipse - I know Aptana extends for markup tags - you probably also stay with the existing tool.

Explore other IDEs - I heard good things about IDEA as well as Netbeans. :)

Good luck

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I can recommend the SynWrite editor. Good external language support, fully customizable. (The editor of new lexers is)

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