is terminal good

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Guys I am curious.I have been programming for 10months now.All I used is terminal and a text editor.I get a bit concerned when people are talking about code:blocks,SDL, Qt creator and all that.am I really behind?Should I also try to use those stuff.Even though I am quiet happy with terminal and a text editor.What is used in the real world anyway.Please guys, I feel there is a lot that I don't know of
closed account (N36fSL3A)
Well it depends on what you're talking about.
Basically I'm still learning.I do exercises in books,pracs, toturials,etc.I haven't started anything of my own.I want 2 master the language b4 I dive into big projects.The curiosity, is whether I will need those staff when time comes.If so I think it would be rewarding to start using them now.
closed account (N36fSL3A)
You'll never master the language.

If you're doing beginner stuff, terminals are fine.
Wrong.
Sometimes using the terminal gives a cleaner way to understand how files are compiled/linked.
Perhaps, you should try an IDE and see if it looks like a good alternative for you.
Spend some time "playing" with them, you will learn why people like/hate them.
closed account (N36fSL3A)
Wrong.
What did I say that said anything? I said it depends on what you're doing.
@lumpkin
What do you mean terminals are for beginners.I know a lot of people who use terminals and a pretty good.What do you mean terminal are for beginners.And what does an IDE like netbeans, have that makes it any better.Chose Netbeans because I used it for Php and web based coding before I started using phpdesigner8.
bTW, have you ever used terminal
closed account (N36fSL3A)
I never said terminals are for beginners...
Lumpkin wrote:
You'll never master the language.

If you're doing beginner stuff, terminals are fine.

Perhaps it really looks like that.
Also, let me split up, mastering the language does not imply having a different compiler setup.
C++11 features don't depend on your IDE.
Yes, you may need -std=c++11 on G++.
But it's nothing you won't remember.
@Lumpkin
You said "terminals are fine" for people who are "doing beginner stuff". That implies that anyone who isn't doing "beginner stuff" should use an IDE, or in other words, that terminals are for beginners. I would say quite the opposite, because although IMO the terminal is not difficult to learn, it can be intimidating for beginners.
"If you're doing beginner stuff", what does that mean.
closed account (N36fSL3A)
I didn't mean to imply that. I meant you don't need to move on if you're only planning on beginner stuff.

I think he was wondering if he should move on to GUIs.

I never once said that terminals are only for beginners.
closed account (iw0XoG1T)
Using a text editor and the terminal is fine--but it is a bit of a waste of time. I personally only use vim and a makefile.
If you are going to use just a text editor, I would make sure it is an advanced text editor and I would learn to write a makefile. There is definitely an advantage in the beginning to not using an IDE. IDEs can hide complicated things and also make simple things more complicated.
I have seen many times on this forum a beginner who has no idea how to use a third party library because they only know how to use libraries that are bundled with their IDE.
If you learn using the terminal something as simple as using a third party library is not difficult because the idea of telling your compiler where the library is has never been hid from you.
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For coding:
I like Qt creator for syntax highlighting in text editing, and of course the GUI creation. While vim has syntax highlighting, Qt will also identify and highlight objects and types instead of just reserved words, comments, preprocessor, etc. I like visual studio for debugging and browsing the files in my projects. I like Notepad++ for the Alt+Drag functionality so that I can write on multiple lines at a time and record macros though VS got this recently too. Intellisense, swap header/source, Go to definition, find all references, are IDE-specific things that are amazing and which I could never get in a stand-alone text editor like gedit.

I've started using vim in gnome-terminal and I love it with the xmonad window manager. I can see so many things tiled. But I wouldn't use vim in a normal desktop environment because I like being able to scroll with my mouse, zoom in and out, tabbed browsing, and even things like find-replace I find tougher to remember how to do in vim. I have a menu and buttons in a normal text-editor if I forget the hotkey. That's not the case in vim.

You can even add revision control extensions into your IDE so that the file icons are overlayed with a symbol to identify whether you've modified it, there's a conflict, or it's the same as the checked-out revision. Then you just right-click on the file and it'll show you all of the changes you've made. It's possible in the terminal, but you actually have to go looking for svn changes instead of just seeing it in your peripheral.

For building:
I love makefiles. The .pro in QtCreator is also just as easy as a makefile. QtCreator doesn't hide anything in your environment settings like visual studio does. But then again, visual studio is easy in that you just drag and drop a source file into the solution explorer and it's added to the build. You don't need to play with paths, you can filter your files in ways that don't correspond with the folder-structure (so headers can be beside source files). You don't see the low-level stuff in VS, but most of the time you don't need to. At work, one person deals with the build file management, and the other 20 people just concentrate on coding so it's not a big issue for enterprise environments.

To summarize, you'll have die-hard minimalists who only use the terminal and vim (or even vi), but I love the short-cuts that come with a IDE which make my browsing of code so much faster. It's not uncommon for me to jump between 15-20 files to find things, especially in OOP when trying to find that bottom level algorithm, that would be a nightmare in the terminal.

So give an IDE a shot, see if you like it, return to the terminal if you like.
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Does it offer anything else.
For instance in phpdesigner, I only use it for highlighting,finish words for me.I always use apache,lamp, xamp to test.Its fine with web based because I am pretty good now.But with c++, I am not that good.So I need to finish the words by myself always.As to other resources, For instance I installed valgring, Gdb and other softwares that I might need.besides that, Is there any benefits that you get from an c++ ide.besides making stuff easier for you, what else is there in a c++ Ide
Debugger, code completion, integration with different compilers...
Changes from an ide to another.
@Stewbond

I have a menu and buttons in a normal text-editor if I forget the hotkey. That's not the case in vim.

Have you checked out the Cream editor?

Cream : : a modern configuration of the Vim text editor
http://cream.sourceforge.net

I've only just bumped into it (while looking about for edit controls other than Scintilla and the stock Windows controls) so know little about it. But it looks friendlier than raw Vim.

Andy
> All I used is terminal and a text editor.
> am I really behind?

No, you are ahead of those who would be lost without their IDE. A thorough knowledge of the tool chain is essential knowledge for a developer who needs to build, test and install a program on different platforms.

By all means, use an IDE if it increases your productivity. But treat it as just another optional tool.
Terminals in programming are fine. Terminal in medical is not. You are ahead of most beginners if you are using terminal and text editors. I've been doing this 17 years and still remember my progression:

Windows 98 SE/DOS with DJGPP/RHIDE
Windwos 98 SE/DOS with Dev-C++/MinGW32 (at the time)
Windows Vista with MSVC 2k5 Express all the way up to 2k10
Windows Vista with Code::Blocks/MinG
Windows Vista with Qt Creator
Played with Linux Distros over the years, but didn't get into terminal until I tried Ubuntu Warty Warthog (2004)
Sinice then I use terminal off and on in Crunchbang linux as well as Code::Blocks/GNU, Qt Creator, Vim, emacs, nano, eclipse, and anjuta.

Just have fun programming. You will learn more tools and find your favorites as you go and experiment more.
Yeah Im looking it up now, I want to be able to do that.
I had python running in the terminal when I first started ever but everything was so alien at the beginning, I don't think I sussed out how to run the code after writing it in the terminal :/

It sounds like you are a purist, is this true?
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