[ros-users] Request for guidance

[Adam Leeper]

I'll echo Morgan's points about the advantage of being comfortable editing
your code from a terminal window. It makes modifying files on any arbitrary
remote computer much easier. I use vim, but perhaps only because I've never
taken the time to look at emacs. I'm fairly new to Linux, having started
using Linux and ROS less than a year ago, but I've found that trying to
lessen my dependence on gui-based point and click interactions has improved
parts of my workflow considerably.

That said, when working on my own computer for a more extended coding
session, I think it is worth setting up an IDE like Eclipse. The
instructions on the ROS wiki work great, and for those of us who were raised
on Visual Studio, it feels a bit like home. When working with new/unfamiliar
ROS packages, I've found it is helpful to have code completion to remind me
what the options are, which is sometimes faster than digging through the ROS
wiki/tutorials to remember how something works.

Just another data point :)



Adam Leeper
Stanford University
aleeper at stanford.edu
719.358.3804


On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 10:19 PM, Morgan Quigley <mquigley at cs.stanford.edu>wrote:

> Hi Sam,
>
> > 1.- What is the recommended Linux-based code editor and compiler to use
> with
> > ROS?
>
> that's a bit of a flamewar-starting question among Linux coders :)
> The compiler question is easy; that's usually gcc/g++ on linux. As to
> editors, there are lots of reasonable options. Personally, I use vim,
> but many (most?) people use emacs with good results; it's a bit
> fancier. Some people use gedit for a more GUI-like experience. There
> are also fully-GUI editors out there, such as Eclipse, that are more
> like Visual Studio in terms of appearance and features. ROS is often
> run on headless machines in robots, however, and in such cases you'll
> find that console-based editors like vim or emacs are much faster.
> Beware that vim or emacs have steep learning curves, especially when
> compared to user-friendly tools like Visual Studio or XCode. However,
> the interwebs are full of excellent tutorials to learn them.
>
> > 2- Is there a recommended Linux-based C++ IDE to use? Should I even use
> an
> > IDE? (Code::Block?)
>
> Not really. The command-line tools in Linux/UNIX are fantastic, and
> well worth your while to learn. However, some folks have worked on
> making ROS and Eclipse play nicer. More info here:
> http://www.ros.org/wiki/IDEs
>
> > 3- Are 2 monitors recommended instead of one?
>
> more pixels are always better :)
>
> > 4- What did, or currently do the original developers of ROS use as their
> > software development setup?
>
> I can't speak for anyone else, but I usually work with lots of
> consoles on my screen, filled with either running programs or
> text-editor sessions. I think many (if not most) other people work
> this way as well. For me, the main benefit is that it looks and feels
> the same regardless if things are running on my local machine or on a
> headless machine on a robot or server somewhere.
>
> I'm sure others can chime in here as well; this is just one data point.
>
> -mq
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 9:02 PM, Sam Quintanar <robosq at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Coming from a Microsoft Robotics Studio Windows-based development world,
> I'd
> > like some guidance concerning my robotics development setup on an Ubuntu
> > computer.
> > I'm migrating from Windows to Ubuntu for robotics purposes and I've never
> > used a Linux system.
> > I'd like to start out with good choices concerning development tools (for
> > C/C++ (?!)).
> > I'm certain the original ROS developers have a certain setup and I
> wouldn't
> > mind replicating that setup.
> > I scanned the ROS Developers Guide (nice!), but I need to know:
> > 1.- What is the recommended Linux-based code editor and compiler to use
> with
> > ROS?
> >
> > (Emacs with Emacs Code Browser (http://ecb.sourceforge.net/) and CEDET
> > (http://cedet.sourceforge.net/) ?)
> >
> > 2- Is there a recommended Linux-based C++ IDE to use? Should I even use
> an
> > IDE? (Code::Block?)
> > 3- Are 2 monitors recommended instead of one?
> > 4- What did, or currently do the original developers of ROS use as their
> > software development setup?
> >
> > Thank you for your help with my newbie request.
> >
> > Sam Q.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > The New Busy is not the too busy. Combine all your e-mail accounts with
> > Hotmail. Get busy.
> > _______________________________________________
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> > ros-users at code.ros.org
> > https://code.ros.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-users
> >
> >
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