SharpDevelop

[Redneck]

What do you guys think of SharpDevelop?

I downloaded it, and it compiled code just fine. It loaded fast, it was very responsive to user interaction unlike Visual Studio.

I read a post on this forum where someone said it was awful, but I see no problems with it.

Your feedback is much appreciated.

[Hack]

Moved to General Developer

[RobDog888]

There is nothing like MS VS as its their code and compiler. 100% matching so no other compiler could do as well. I wouldnt trust third party compilers buts thats my opinion. The IDE doesnt run your program on other machinces so that point is only for when writting and VS does just fine for me.

[Redneck]

There is nothing like MS VS as its their code and compiler. 100% matching so no other compiler could do as well.

That is true, but Visual Studio is so slow, and SharpDevelop is very fast and responsive so I wanted to know if there are any major drawbacks such as instability, incompatibility etc...

I wouldnt trust third party compilers buts thats my opinion.

That's why I am asking here to get some feedback from people who actually do use it on a regular basis.

The IDE doesnt run your program on other machinces

What do you mean by that? I don't understand what you mean by the IDE doesn't run your program on other machines...

[Redneck]

Moved to General Developer

Well SharpDevelop is a VB.NET IDE, so shouldn't it be ok to put this in VB.NET section? If not, then I am sorry for questioning your decision.

[penagate]

SharpDevelop isn't a compiler, just an IDE.

If it works for you then use it. Personally I hate how slow Visual Studio is, but there isn't anything that matches its feature set.

[RobDog888]

What do you mean by that? I don't understand what you mean by the IDE doesn't run your program on other machines...

I mean that when you finish your app and its running on other systems it doesnt use the IDE to run, it doesnt matter what produced it, only that it produces it correctly and optimized.

[RobDog888]

Well SharpDevelop is a VB.NET IDE, so shouldn't it be ok to put this in VB.NET section? If not, then I am sorry for questioning your decision.

Yes, and no in general but this is specific to .net and your desiring it to be so I can move it back for you.

[kleinma]

Rob, unless you know something I don't, sharpdevelop is NOT a compiler...

It is just an IDE. It still just sends your code files through the vbc.exe Visual Basic compiler much like Visual Studio also does.

Redneck, if you heard someone on here say it was aweful in another post, perhaps PM them, or post in that thread, and ask them for specifics if they didn't give any as to why they felt it was aweful. Perhaps the thread was old and many things have changed in a new version.

All that being said, I still do agree with Rob that the Visual Studio IDE is still far better than any 3rd party effort. The fact that you can now get the IDE express versions for free make it even easier (and affordable) to use Microsoft's offerings versus a 3rd party as your IDE.

[Redneck]

kleinma, I agree with you. I have no problem with Visual Studio except for how slow it is. I would much rather use Microsoft's software to develop software on Microsoft Operating systems. I am just looking for an alternative that is faster and more responsive.

[kleinma]

What type of hardware are you running on? Also depending on what version of Visual Studio you are using, check to make sure you have the latest service pack for the IDE installed. If you are using Visual Studio 2005, there were some performance gains in certain areas after installing the service pack.

[RobDog888]

No, I havent used it but from a previous thread thats how it was presented.

[kleinma]

It may very well NOT have the background compiler which IMO makes the difference in my wanting to develop in C# or VB in Visual Studio. C# has no background compiler so many errors are not noted until you try to compile. VB has the background compiler in Visual Studio, which often catches compile errors as you type them.

[RobDog888]

Given the new details it would still be more beneficial to use VS. When new issues arise, MS can fix them with a sp but sharpdevelop will have to wait for the fix and then develop their ide to work with the new specs (given its a compiler update etc).

[Redneck]

Maybe the background compiler is why visual studio is slower than a soft dog [Removed by Mod] rolling down a grass hill...

[RobDog888]

Well its not slow as mentioned in your other thread but if its got more features and functions then logically it may be "slower" as its doing more.

[kleinma]

I run a PentiumD 920 with 2GB of ram and a 10K RPM raptor. My PC is decent, but not nearly as fast as the newer core 2 duo or quad core intel CPUs...

None the less I can run multiple instances of Visual Studio 2005. Is it slow? yes sometimes a little if I have large projects open for long periods of time. However never slow enough to make it unusable. One thing I have noticed is that it seems to be good to close/reopen VS once in a while. IE, don't leave some project open for 2 weeks without closing VS ever. I still think there are memory leaks floating around somewhere. It seems the longer I leave a project open in VS, the slower it becomes. Close and reopen, and its fine.

I am also talking days here, not a few hours..

[RobDog888]

Hmm, guess I should start doing that as I keep mine vs instances open for weeks if not more then a month at a time.

Good tip Matt. Thanks.

[kleinma]

Rob, I would also be interested in your own personal observations on this, as what I said above is purely from my own observations on how Visual Studio acts when left open for a long time.

[techgnome]

kleinma - that's been my experience too... I used to leave things open and simply send my maching in to hibernation.... not any more... now I shut it down nightly.... and it's much happier since I've started doing that....

-tg

[kleinma]

While I leave my work PC on at all times (for remote access purposes) I do shut down VS when I am done working on a project, and reopen it. If for some reason I have left a project open (lets say over the weekend so friday to monday), I always notice a considerable slowdown and also more memory usage which looks like its been climbing for the past few days. Reopening VS and the solution always speeds things back up.

[RobDog888]

Well I will keep a closer eye on it as I had just shut down my systems sat night but IE 7 definately increases on emory use fast as Im already up to 291 mbs for a single instance with 7 tabs open. Currently my two vs instances are open for about a day or so and they are only 20 mbs and 10 mbs. One usercontrol project with a test proj in it and the other instance is just a fwe php files open in it.

[kleinma]

Rob, the other thing I noticed (which makes sense since VS was written in C#) is that the memory footprint shrinks when you minimize VS. This is the same thing that happens when you minimize a VB.NET winforms app. Probably automatic garbage collection occurs, and likely a number of windows messages get thrown out and are not processed based on the fact that the application is minimized.

So if your 2 instances of VS are minimized, then you may not see anything out of the ordinary, however leave a project open in VS over the weekend without minimizing it, and see how the memory footprint looks then..

[RobDog888]

Yes, I remember a thread about minimizing an app programmatically vs maually that this will happen with it too.

Does SharpDevelop have better memory management?