I've actually been in a rush to complete my new blog software (I've been writing one myself, something a bit more custom), I read a few good posts that I thought I would turn in the direction of the rest of the active users here. I thought maybe there might be some other opinions here, but I found most of this very insightful. I learned Python to start creating build scripts, because I was tired of messing with the build so often. I've found that I've started building my own tools, because a lot of the tools I've been using I've been pretty disappointed with. So then I found these articles about how to choose your tools. I've begun using this in my research, and have found that the better tools to use all have the ability to build on those, to extend them.<br /><br />Eclipse is a great tool. although it takes a while to learn. I work with developers who have written Eclipse extensions for their environments in a few hours, and Emacs uses their LISP variant to write their extensions. All the good tools have extensibility. QT uses qmake, which allows for all sorts of extensibility, just simple build macros help out SO much. After I learned to use the tools I had, and how to build on them, my development time was cut almost in half. The build always takes the longest time in iterative development, so if I can automate it, I can automate a large portion of my development.<br /><br />Here are the links, read them, let me know what you think.<br /><a href="http://www.windley.com/archives/2006/10/when_you_pick_your_tools_pick_those_that_can_build_tools.shtml" target="_blank">When You Pick Your Tools, Pick Those That Can Build Tools</a><br /><a href="http://jaortega.wordpress.com/2006/10/22/know-your-tools/" target="_blank">Know your tools</a>
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