Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The History of Visual Development Environments

Posted by timothy on from the some-people-still-prefer-text-y'know dept.

Esther Schindler writes "There was a time when programs were written in text editors. And when competition between C++ vendors was actually fierce. Step into the time travel machine as Andy Patrizio revisits the evolution and impact of the visual development metaphor. 'Visual development in its earliest stages was limited by what the PC could do. But for the IBM PC in the early 1980s, with its single-tasking operating system and 8- or 16-bit hardware, the previous software development process was text edit, compile, write down the errors, and debug with your eyes.' Where do you start? 'While TurboPascal launched the idea of an integrated development environment, [Jeff] Duntemann credits Microsoft's Visual Basic (VB), launched in 1991, with being the first real IDE.'... And yes, there's plenty more." A comment attached to the story lists two IDEs that preceded VB; can you name others?

2 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. VB? by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Making managers that are "handy" think they are programmers cince 1992...

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  2. Text editors are still around. by Viol8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "There was a time when programs were written in text editors."

    Yeah , 5 minutes ago when I finished updating some code.

    Plenty of unix C/C++/script/python coders still use vi and emacs. Just because IDEs rule the roost in Windows and Java development, don't assume every coder users or even requires them.