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Is there any room on that bandwagon?

I have been a loyal, nay ardent, HomeSite user, lo these many years. Friends tried to tell me that CFEclipse was great, but it seemed that every time I looked at it, there was something that just didn't fit well. I wasn't even sure what it was. Regardless, I stuck with HomeSite and have been happy.

Recently, though, I had occasion to use Eclipse for Java. I've been using Eclipse for years for Java work, and while I was in the program, I decided to try downloading the CFEClipse plugins and try it again.

I don't know if I've changed or CFEclipse has changed, but I love the program. Mark Drew has done a wonderful job with this -- and all out of a sense of sharing. Definitely my choice for an Adobe Hero Award (yeah, I just made that up). What I really like is the auto code-folding, the sortable methods outline that can be popped out and onto a separate screen. I dunno: it's really good. I may well be the only curmudgeon left who hadn't switched (actually, Charlie Arehart was with me on this) but I'm a convert.

There are some little bugs, yes, but no show-stoppers. If I could give Adobe one suggestion it would be this: hire Mark Drew to work exclusively on CFEclipse and build it into the fantastic product it can be.

9 Comments

Comment by Stephen "Cutter" Blades on 6 April 2008 at 2:56pm: Welcome to the CFE User club! We're glad you could join us. You'll see many fantastic sites on this new journey.....;)

Comment by Hal Helms on 6 April 2008 at 3:52pm: Thanks, Cutter!

Comment by Ross Boom on 8 April 2008 at 2:14pm: Hi Hal,

I too am in the same boat: love HomeSite, wishy-washy about CFEclipse.
People have tried to convert me, but I guess I have an old-school frame of mind (is that actually possible in web-land?)
Anyway enjoy it, and maybe someday I'll make the permanent jump too.

Cheers,
Wendell

Comment by Gareth Arch on 8 April 2008 at 3:32pm: I used CF Studio originally, then moved to Homesite (5, 5.5, +) after studio was phased out. I saw all of the issues people were having with Dreamweaver (older versions) and stuck with Homesite for a quite a while. For some reason, I ended up switching to Dreamweaver and really liked it. A co-worker of mine used Eclipse, but I just couldn't get into it...there seemed to be too many things that were done slightly differently than the way I had been doing things with Dreamweaver (and Homesite before).

I changed jobs recently and began using Flex (which pretty much means you're going to be using Eclipse in some fashion :) ). After being "forced" to use CFEclipse/Flex Builder, I've really come to love it. There's so much customization in it, and there have been very few issues that I've come across that cannot be fixed with a little tweaking. I still use Dreamweaver at home, but have definitely found a new appreciation for Eclipse.

Comment by Hal Helms on 9 April 2008 at 2:13am: One odd thing is that there's no way (I've found) to refresh the File Explorer view. Even closing the view and reopening doesn't repopulate it.

Comment by Gareth Arch on 9 April 2008 at 3:56am: I found that I have to actually right click on a node in the explorer list and select refresh from that to actually refresh the list.

Comment by Hal Helms on 9 April 2008 at 4:16am: I'll keep a light on for you, Wendell.

Comment by Judith Dinowitz on 9 April 2008 at 6:59am: Hal, it's so interesting to see your feelings of hesitancy with CFEclipse and how you're now finally warming to it. We just did a development environment issue in which Charlie Arehart talks about Dreamweaver and HomeSite+ and tips on how to use those IDEs productively for those who aren't making the leap to CFEclipse. We didn't put an Eclipse article in that issue because we already covered CFEclipse in Volume 1 Issue 1 (CFEclipse CFExplained by Robert Blackburn) and Jun Heider had done a thorough job of examining FlexBuilder as an Eclipse plug-in in Volume 2 Issue 2. (Shameless plug: You can buy those issues at http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly/).

Michael and I both prefer HomeSite+, though we've both tried CFEclipse, but I think FlexBuilder may end up bringing many ColdFusion developers who are hesitant about CFEclipse into the Eclipse fold.

Judith

Comment by Raymond Camden on 17 April 2008 at 12:46pm: Hal, I'm pretty sure there is a refresh with the file view - but if I'm wrong - do not forget you can also use RDS with CFE. You have to get the plugins from Adobe (it is a separate plugin from CFE), but with the RDS view, you can definitely refresh.