Alternative Arduino IDE

I cannot understand why the Arduino project uses it's own IDE. Frankly, when compared with the editors already available in the open source community, sorry but it really sucks.

Why not write a plugin for Eclipse for example?? I've been using Eclipse with Java and the occasional C++ project for over 15 years. Now I'm not a huge fan of Eclipse and parts of it are a bit of a mess to be honest, but the editor works very well, there are many features/plugins available and it is quite actively supported.

Would it not be a sensible idea to write an Arduino plugin for Eclipse? I'm sure it would be much less work than supporting your own IDE.

A common response to a Q. like that is along the lines of

" It is meant as a stand alone single point for brand new users who don't or cannot understand or install a larger more complex application."

Its an "entry point application"

From my own POV... Couple of years in and only just getting to the point of needing somethings a little more complex. But then again I try to understand the interaction between OS more than I do the actual code and the simplicity of my projects often reflects that.

KISS principle and it works.

There already is a plugin for Eclipse. It's called "Sloeber". Actually I think there are two of them but that's the most popular one.

Like this?

pert:
There already is a plugin for Eclipse. It's called "Sloeber". Actually I think there are two of them but that's the most popular one.

Thanks, great news. I'll install it later and give it a go.

So I installed the eclipse plugin (Sloeber) into my existing version of Eclipse using this URL:
http://eclipse.baeyens.it/update/V4/stable

It all seemed to go ok, restart eclipse, tried to add File->New->Project and Arduino was listed. After selecting a new sketch and location, the 'Finish' button never enabled. The 'Next' button did nothing. So I was stuck not being able to create a new ARduino project at allr

So I'll see if I can fix it. But a big thumbs down so far.

johnpearcey:
So I installed the eclipse plugin (Sloeber) into my existing version of Eclipse using this URL:
http://eclipse.baeyens.it/update/V4/stable

It all seemed to go ok, restart eclipse, tried to add File->New->Project and Arduino was listed. After selecting a new sketch and location, the 'Finish' button never enabled. The 'Next' button did nothing. So I was stuck not being able to create a new ARduino project at allr

So I'll see if I can fix it. But a big thumbs down so far.

That usually means you've left some setting unset. A grown up IDE is never going to be as simple plug and play as the Arduino IDE is. So don't get mad at it for that. Look through the tabs of the create new project wizard and see what you've left blank. The one where you tell it if your nano has a 168 or 328 processor always gets me. You may also need to go in and edit some of the build options depending on your OS and how you have things installed.

There are no settings to set. The new project is just a location and project name.

I've logged it as a bug on github, see here:

They seem to be generally flumouxed!
:slight_smile:

Ok, so now you have found out why Arduino uses a simple IDE rather than the huge and complex Eclipse.

Eclipse is often going wrong in some very weird way, you get used to it. Eclipse is more advanced, but that meant you more advanced problems to solve.

bobcousins:
Ok, so now you have found out why Arduino uses a simple IDE rather than the huge and complex Eclipse.

Eclipse is often going wrong in some very weird way, you get used to it. Eclipse is more advanced, but that meant you more advanced problems to solve.

Well, you can't really blame Eclipse for a plugin not working. I've been using Eclipse now for about 17 years and this is the first plugin I've used which actually plain doesn't work. Agreed that Eclipse can be a bit of a dog to say the least - config stuff all over the place and you have to dig around a lot to find out what to set and where it is but generally you can get most things working. You have to learn to do the 'Eclipse Dance'! But in this case, I cannot even create a new Arduino project so it's a show-stopper.

So back to gedit :slight_smile:

johnpearcey:
Well, you can't really blame Eclipse for a plugin not working. I've been using Eclipse now for about 17 years and this is the first plugin I've used which actually plain doesn't work. Agreed that Eclipse can be a bit of a dog to say the least - config stuff all over the place and you have to dig around a lot to find out what to set and where it is but generally you can get most things working. You have to learn to do the 'Eclipse Dance'! But in this case, I cannot even create a new Arduino project so it's a show-stopper.

So back to gedit :slight_smile:

I am glad that Arduino has it's own IDE. I started without any knowledge to programming and the Arduino IDE is a fantastic IDE to start with.

I am now at a point where I am trying different IDE's, but they are a lot harder, more complex and take a lot more time to understand.

Arduino would never have been this great a succes if they didn't have a super easy IDE.

I found Arduino IDE good enough for most parts of the project.

My opinion is that Arduino IDE will gain a lot in usability by a more costumizable interface. I mean, when reaching long codes stage (and this is quite rapid...) it becames very difficult to follow small character on white background.

I attempted to use Atom - that has a black background and more contrast. But it has to be learnt, unlike Arduino IDE which is "out of the box".

Notepad++ is also nice in respect of editing.

+++++

I dare to say that it very much depends on the nature and length of the code itself.

I wonder why people do not speak about preparing the logic. For me, is a very important part of the project. I never jump into coding directly. But perhaps this came from the fact that I do not know OOP, just started to learn it. I like its versatility, but I am not costuimised to think in OOP terms. So, for me, apart for a more vizible look, I have very little expectation from the programming environment (speaking as a beginner, again).

falexandru:
it becames very difficult to follow small character on white background.

You can change your Arduino IDE to one with a black background if that's your thing:

You can also adjust the theme to you personal preferences. This makes it a bit easier with documentation and a test sketch:

Thousand thanks @pert!

I did not look for changing the theme because I did not came across such an option in the IDE.

I thought it is just impossible to make it black. yupiii!

There is a plugin for Visual Studio, that uses the Arduino IDE as a back end.

I quite like the simplicity of the Arduino interface. I think VS is sometimes needlessly complicated, and I've used it at work for over a decade!

I use Visual Studio for the .h & .cpp files when I write Librairies. Then I can modify them directly in Arduino's "librairies" folder, without the anoying "ReadOnly" restriction.

As for the sketches, the Arduino's Library is good enough.