Re: [eclipse-dev] Case for an M10

["Jeff Duska" <Jeff.Duska@xxxxxxxx>]

+1 with the following comments

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Burnette" <Ed.Burnette@xxxxxxx>
Date: Monday, February 16, 2004 1:04 am
Subject: [eclipse-dev] Case for an M10

> The PMCs might want to consider adding another milestone (M10) to 
> the 3.0 schedule to address these issues:
> 
> - RCP features. The paint is still wet on this, and important 
> functionality like exporting and branding still doesn't have a 
> good story.
> - Visual editor. SWT support is not there yet.

I didn't realize this was going to be incorporated into the core 
project. I thought this was going to stay a subproject. 

> - Runtime changes. PDE is still catching up there, as is Update.
> - Cheat sheets. This has been contributed but not integrated yet.
> - Life in a concurrent world. Some things are not backgrounded yet 
> that should be, and perhaps vice-versa (bugs have been entered).
> - API stability. The API was supposed to be frozen at M5 or M6 but 
> in some places public API was still changed at M7 with more 
> changes planned for M8.


> - Themes. I've seen it in the code and extension schemas but it 
> hasn't been explained yet.
> - Forms based ui. Some subset is still planned in the M8 time 
> frame but it won't get much use before M9.
> - Multipage editing. PDE was going to move to true multipage 
> editors and try to knock out some of the problems there but I'm 
> not sure if that work is done yet.
> - Virtual and large non-virtual table support. This might seem 
> like a minor item but SWT table architecture and performance is 
> the #1 thing that always comes up when I'm trying to convince 
> somebody to switch from Swing tables.

This is a big deal. Any time you talk about SWT, the Swing folks bring 
this up. It is the biggest complain I see mentioned after being 'not 
portable' Java.

> - Logical resources. I heard this one over and over at EclipseCon. 
> Currently a proposed item but it's been needed for a long time.
> - Keyboard bindings. A completely new default set is planned but 
> when is it going to be made the default and how long will people 
> have to get used to it and refine it? Which binding should new 
> books document (they have to pick *one*)? M7 still uses the old 
> bindings by default.

I might have missed it, but I've never found a good summary of the new 
key bindings or the default key bindings. I always had to use the 
properties window. It would nice when these are changed that we 
provide a quick guide. Otherwise, I'm not sure how much testing 
they'll get. 

> - Java 1.5. One of the reasons we went to Eclipse in the first 
> place was its support for the latest JDK. I'd argue this is a must-
> have for 3.0, even if 1.5 is still in beta. I mean, how much is it 
> going to change at this point?

Since intellj has this support, I really don't see how Eclipse can 
skip it. Sure most people will not be using it, but the people that 
are using it are the people we want to be using Eclipse. 

> - New look. Most people will get their first look at the new look 
> in M8 and I predict there's going to be a big reaction to it, 
> possibly negative.

Just following Bug 37997 you can tell you're going to need some time 
to digest what user feel about the new changes. I agree with Ed that 
there will be some fireworks from these changes. I don't think one 
milestone is going to be enough to resolve everything. 

I'm also concerned that we haven't seen the Java-like file support 
yet. I don't remember this being mentioned in the New and Improved. If 
it is in M7, please forgive me. If it isn't is one milestone going to 
be enough to test this and caputer all the needed improvements?

I know we'd all like to have this released as quick as possible, but I 
rather see it delayed some to make sure 3.0 is the best release 
possible. 

Well, that's my two cents worth, 

Jeff Duska