I want to begin to develop some Grasshopper components and I need to know if it is any alternative to VS as a compiler? I’m using mostly Atom editor and maybe it is a way to set-up a build environment from Atom?
Will be very useful to have such an option as I’m mostly using RhinoMAC. On Mac, Atom is used to edit and run Python scripts. It is possible to transform Atom into a full featured IDE for Grasshopper development?
Haven’t tried it myself, and given the paucity of google results it’s not looking good, but you could try starting here. I think MonoDevelop is what we typically recommend and use ourselves.
Thank you for reply. I will try this days to make a setup like the one described.
Do you want an IDE to develop Python or .net/mono?
Is there a reason you don’t want to use VS for Mac?
Will be much nicer to have only a tool to master than two or three. Will be better to be able to develop all kinds of scripts and components using only one tool.
I’m used with Atom (and SublimeText) and VS seems alien to me.
Atom seems to head over becoming a full IDE. Microsoft products I just don’t like to use them as I don’t trust that company. My personal opinion, hopefully nobody harmed.
Both of them if possible using the same tool. The problem is that I began to contribute to some components development and the other developer is using Windows and myself MAC.
If you are working on developing components for Grasshopper in C# or VB, you will be best off using Visual Studio for Mac. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems other options will be a distraction to actually contributing to the projects.
I’m not sure Python support has come to Visual Studio for Mac, but the Windows version does support Python. Perhaps Visual Studio Code for Mac has support.
Atom is many things. With packages it can do a bunch of stuff beyond a basic text editor. Can you make it a full flegged IDE? No idea, but if it means installing a bunch of packages to get the same functionality as a purpose made product (Visual Studio), and your Windows colleagues are using Visual Studio for Windows, I feel harm will be done to your time, and potentially to your effectiveness as a contributor in these projects.
My $0.02.
This all being said, I am all for people developing in whatever manner they are most comfortable. If you do find other setups, please let us know so that we can learn about them, document them, and be able to help others like you in the future!
p.s. I do use Atom on Mac as my text editor, some javascript and vue coding, and I like it a lot.
Compiling should be possible from anywhere by scripting the compilation process. Where I see a problem with making any recommendation other than VS for Mac is that this is currently the only tool available for debugging. I consider a debugger necessary for development.