I like to get into scripting a bit (mainly creating custom GH Blocks/Nodes), but need a little nudge in the right direction. I have a lot of experience programming in VBA, but nothing else. Since the VBA editor is conveniently available in most MS Office applications, the question where to do the writing never arose. This is where I need a bit of advice.
In the many guides covering this subject, Visual Studio is the recommended way to go on Mac (I’m on a Mac using Rhino 8). However, as Visual Studio will soon be discontinued, and followed up by Visual Studio Code, I like to know what this means in practice?
Do I need an external environment at all? I’m totally fine using the script editor that comes with Rhino.
It depends on your preference, but you don’t need one that’s for sure.
I’m mainly programming in Python and C++ also on macOS.
For small projects, where the code is contained within a handful of files I simply use the Rhino or Grasshopper code editor. For larger projects, where a couple of modules (libraries) need to be managed, PyCharm Community is free and really great (and superior to VS for Python).
If you’re looking for a Visual Studio alternative for macOS and C#, Rider comes to mind, but it’s not free.
I’m not familiar with Visual Basic or VBA and I don’t know whether it’s still supported in the new Rhino 8 script editor. It used to in older versions of Rhino though.
I’ve noticed others mention Rider in other Topics. I’ll have a look at it. For now I’ll stick to the Rhino editor since I’ve no overly complicated things in mind.