Developing with Gen as a framework

In a previous post, I expressed a belief that Gen should have a published API for other (non-CA) developers to produce an alternative set of generators so that the tool’s marketplace could be expanded.

Here, I’m focussing on the front end of things - i.e. the developer IDE.

Is there a place for an alternative IDE for the Gen tool ?

Certainly, portions of the toolset leave a lot to be desired, and some parts of the tool have already been re-engineered (the diagram trace facility as an Eclipse Rich Application), and alternative reporting tools and support tools like GuardIEN have matured.

BUT the user interface to the core development tool still leave me a little cold.

With the new releases of Gen, the advance into Eclipse has gathered momentum, but is that enough ?

There seem to be two opposing camps here - the Microsoft camp and the Eclipse camp. For me, used to a Microsoft-centric approach, it would seem a good move to me to adopt some of the Microsoft ideas, however there are those who favour the Eclipse approach would say that using Eclipse as a grounding for a development environment is the way forward.

But is there space for a third approach, a hybrid of them all ?

If CA were to keep control of the fantastic encyclopedia API and allow other developers to develop DEVELOPMENT interfaces to the tool, like they have done with other aspects, then 3rd parties could take the best of both worlds, and leave the worst of those worlds alone, and develop a dynamic, easy-to-use, productive, Gen-centric interface, with which to work.

 Maybe Gen could evolve into something which isn’t a tool, but a framework into which others’ tools slot in to produce the most effective working environment for the developer.

Those tools could include 3rd party interfaces, reporting tools, generators, and oher supporting items, all seamlessly integrating into a single framework, so that the developer/analyst/designer isn’t aware that they are using different vendors’ products.