Komodo, productivity features, ASPN, etc. [was: Re: ActiveState going the wrong way]

[David Ascher]

I'd like to thank everyone for expressing their opinion on Komodo.  User
feedback is incredibly important to us, and I think that those who have
followed Komodo's beta release cycles have witnessed how we've changed
the tool in response to user requests (naturally we aren't able to
accomodate all such requests).  

Our goals in writing Komodo are to make our customers more productive. 
This basic goal resulted in several aspects of Komodo and ASPN which I'd
like to discuss briefly here.

  1) Features like autocompletion, background syntax checking, method
tips, etc. are especially useful to folks who are programming in a
language that they are not experts in.  As a personal example, I find
syntax checking in JavaScript to be helpful to me, as I have to write in
JS at times, but am not an expert in it.  It even saves me time in
Python, a language I feel I know pretty well =).  

  2) Multi-language support.  We've found that a very large number of
our customers program in multiple languages, either by choice or by
requirement.  I certainly can attest to the fact that in my career it's
been the lone project which was solved with a single programming
language.  Much like Microsoft's Visual Studio, Komodo offers a single
environment in which to develop in multiple languages.  We're constantly
adding new levels of support for various languages, from syntax coloring
through syntax checking through autocomplete all the way to debugging. 
For example, we're currently working on adding support for XSLT and PHP
debugging. 

  3) The ASPN model.  Komodo is free for non-commercial use.  Commercial
use requires a subscription to ASPN Komodo or ASPN Perl, two
subscriptions available from ActiveState (see
www.ActiveState.com/ASPN).  While the subscription is yearly, the right
to use Komodo does not expire.  Only if the you (the customer) want to
always have access to the latest version of Komodo would you choose to
renew your subscription.  This keeps the pressure on us (the developers
of Komodo) to keep making Komodo better.  I should mention as well that
one can become an ASPN Open member for free, although this does not
include a license to Komodo or access to the O'Reilly books that is
available in ASPN Perl.

  4) Performance.  You can expect improvements in the speed of Komodo in
the coming months, along with other improvements, bug fixes and added
features.  There have been changes in the Mozilla codebase which give us
some performance improvements, and which should allow us to address some
performance hotspots more effectively. The Komodo team is still working
just as hard as we did last month.

Finally, I'd like to say that whether you prefer to use an IDE like
Komodo or an editor like gVim is a matter of personal choice and
personal needs.  Many people are perfectly happy with an editor like
gVim.  Some people like the productivity features and integration with
online material that ASPN & Komodo provide.  To the former, I say good
for you!  To the former, I encourage you to try Komodo (evaluation
licenses are free), and to send us feedback at
komodo-feedback at ActiveState.com.  We'll strive to make Komodo as
interesting and useful to as many people as possible.

Thanks for your time,

-- David Ascher
   Komodo Tech Lead
   ActiveState