Eiffle Software

[GrognardFortyPlus]

Just wondering if Hubert might share a few words on his experience with the Eiffle development environment as it relates to the development of SC2?

[Ike99]

Hmmm... Something tells me somehow this is a "loaded" question.

[Hubert Cater]

GrognardFortyPlus,

For me Eiffel was one of the programming languages that got it right. Technically it is one of the better languages but unfortuantely it is not one of the better known entities.

The pros and cons for this are obvious as it had made programming SC2 that much easier, i.e. it is unlike C++ where I would have to manage memory manually etc., but it is also unlike C++ where it does not have extensive multimedia libraries ready for use.

This can be a double edged sword as I found the backend programming, i.e. all of the data structures, classes, essentially the bulk of the software engineering is quite easy to do in Eiffel (due to the language and easy to use tools) but it was a bit of a challenge incorporating DirectX as essentially I am the pioneer in this area with respect to Eiffel.

Things are improving however as since the original release of SC1 there has been 3rd party work done on a new multi-platform multimedia library which in theory would allow me future developments on not only the Windows platform but also Linux and Macs. I only say in theory as I would have to redo a good portion of my original DirectX code and have to use an alternative library for the GUI (Graphical User Interface), I currently use a Windows specific one and I am not sure if at the moment the extra effort would be worth it.

FYI, Eiffel was the language I had used in University for Software Engineering courses and it is used quite extensively in the Academic field simply because it is one of the most academically sound designs. It's use however seems to be much more limited in the commercial field probably because a lot of resources have already been thrown behind languages such as C++, Delphi and JAVA but hopefully projects such as SC2 will one day change that

For programmers I would suggest taking a look at the Open Source version of Eiffel Studio (their IDE) found at http://www.eiffel.com as well as an Eiffel book called "Object Oriented Software Construction -2nd Edition" as it really is a must read for any Object Oriented software developer in general.

[GrognardFortyPlus]

Thanks Hubert! Ike, no loaded question. I do not do C (or any of its incarnations). I've toyed with Delphi, VB (pre .Net), RealBasic and a few others, but none have impressed me to the point of jumping in full bore and running up the learning curve.

I noticed Eiffel a while back, but the price tag was outside my budget. They recently announced a "dual licensing" approach which allows the little guy (like me) full run of their platform for personal (non commercial) or open source use, FREE of charge! I checked out their presentations and am very impressed with the product.

It's always good to get an independent view from a developer. I noticed the Eiffel logo on the SC2 credits and thought I would get some feedback. The point about DirectX was very informative too.

Lastly, given the design philosophy embedded in the Eiffel product, it bodes well for the stability of SC2 as a software product in general.

Thanks, Hubert. Hope this isn't too much off topic.

[Hubert Cater]

Not at all off topic (for me) as I enjoy the language very much and will happily discuss it with anyone that is interested... and now is probably a much better tim for this type of discussion that let's say... ohhh... I don't know the last year or so when I couldn't even breathe

If it ever does become really off topic then private email always works nicely as well.

Glad you might take a look and I don't think you'll be dissapointed. They have an open developer email group, you'll notice the link on the main page, and the group members are all very friendly, professional and helpful if you ever do get started.