On 9/14/07, Roshan d_rosh2001@yahoo.co.in wrote:
Use the right tools for the right programming tasks. You cannot use all the tools for all types of development.
Agreed. But the question is pertinent to who is learning and what they learn? They (students) begin to learn the basics of programming and typically begin with C (in Mum. Univ.) (and not python) (please don't divert this thread to C versus python ;) )
Personally, I prefer to avoid IDEs for writing standalone applications (regular PC based apps). The plain old vi/emacs with a couple of terminals for compilation and debugging is the best combo for me. IDEs force me to work in a way that the IDE _thinks_ is the best. I know customization is possible but it's simply not worth the effort.
On the other hand, for web based development (particularly J2EE or .Net based development), IDEs work better for me. The reason is that for web based applications if you decide to go solo you will end up wasting more time configuring the environment, packaging and deploying than actually developing a solution.
Hence, right tool for the right job and in the right scenario.