Because many languages were designed with only the compiler in mind, but IDEs have requirements regarding language design, too…
Example 1: text-based preprocessors such as the ones you find in C or C++ are a nightmare for IDE developers. They turn static analysis into a game of guessing because your source code can manifest itself into too many variations.
Example 2: SQL: If a user wants to write "SELECT mycolumn FROM mytable;" but he/she has only written "SELECT " and now trigger auto-completion… it can not work, because the IDE has no idea from which table it can list the columns. If the language would have the syntax the other way around "FROM mytable SELECT mycolumn" auto-complete could easily propose the tables first and all the columns from a specific table later.
IReadYourCode|12 years ago
Example 1: text-based preprocessors such as the ones you find in C or C++ are a nightmare for IDE developers. They turn static analysis into a game of guessing because your source code can manifest itself into too many variations.
Example 2: SQL: If a user wants to write "SELECT mycolumn FROM mytable;" but he/she has only written "SELECT " and now trigger auto-completion… it can not work, because the IDE has no idea from which table it can list the columns. If the language would have the syntax the other way around "FROM mytable SELECT mycolumn" auto-complete could easily propose the tables first and all the columns from a specific table later.
yawz|12 years ago