How do I manipulate the Unix graphical environment?
 

I have this question that needs answering but I don't really have a clue. Can anybody offer any help or point me in the right direction.

Here it is:

Explain how as a programmer you can manipulate the Unix graphical environment and the command-line interface to simulate an integrated development environment for developing C programs.

It's only 4 marks so i'm guessing its something quite simple.

Welcome to LQ---and thanks for acknowledging that this is homework.

First, do you know what an "integrated development environment" is? Without this, the rest of the question does not make sense.

You will need to give us more context for the question---for example, do you want to set up a system for development using C?

What course materials--textbooks, etc.--are you using?

Is that another way of saying that you have got some homework that needs to be done?:)

I believe an IDE is something that provides a compiler, editor, builder etc but I may be wrong.

I don't really understand this question much myself hence why I am asking. I'm guessing by the question that he is asking us how we would go about setting it up ready to type C programs (a C program question follows).

As for textbooks, none. I just have handouts from the classes.

It is a question in my assignment so yes, its another way of wording it.

I have got to believe that there has been something in the lectures and/or handouts. What is the class? eg is it on programming? Have you written any programs yet.

Here are some hints. To program in C, you need:

• an editor, to type in the program code
• a compiler to translate the C code into executable binary code
• libraries and header files to provide all the interfaces you need
• <optional> various de-bugging and optimization tools

To give more and better help, we need to know how much you already know, and where you are supposed to be in the course.

Have you searched on Google using--eg--"C IDE" or "C development linuix unix"?

The class is called "Programming For Communication & Networks" and my overall degree is in "Software Design & Networks".

We have done C and Java but this is the first look at Unix/Linux we have had. We have written a few C programs in linux but all we do is:

gedit my_c_file.c &

*type up c program*

gcc -o my_c_file my_c_file.c
./my_c_file

I can't see that being what they want for this question but correct me if I am wrong.

We have done so far:

Simple Shell Commands
Files & Directories
Pipes & Redirection
Scripting in Linux (a little)
Interacting with Operating System
Job Control & Shell Variables.

I have done a lot of Google searching but I will do some more with them 'phrases'.

The question is a bit vague.

I have the impression that this is one of the pre-made questions that some people that do not have a clue write into a paper for a grade course and that you have to answer purely by memory (and really makes no real sense at all).

The first thing to know is if they want you to name what components would you use to create a self made IDE, if they want to know what steps would you follow to install those pieces on a given distro (then the distro you are using would also be relevant), or if they want anything else. As I said, the question wins a prize for vagueness.

It's also worth mentioning that there are proper IDEs for linux (the question seems to imply that maybe your professor or whoever made the question is not aware about that). Look into Eclipse, anjuta or Kdevelop, there are many more.

The basic functionality of an IDE are editing code and compiling code. Some of them also have facilities to debug, assistants to fill code, syntax highlighting. The difference between these IDEs and, let's say, Visual Studio, is that in Visual Studio everything is tied into a monolith, while in Linux the philosophy is to re utilize the already existing components. This allow for greater quality and less buggy software, because the wheel is not reinvented again for each new IDE. So, all the existing IDEs use gcc as their compiler. This same way, if you want to implement a debugger into your IDE, you would use GDB, or if you need a profiler you'd use valgrind or something similar, that's well tested and is efficient.

I find the wording of the question to be rather odd. "Manipulate the graphical environment". Suggests to me you need to look at gtk and qt - identify what they are and what they do. "Emulate an IDE". Suggests to me you need to set out what an IDE does, and then consider how you might "emulate" that using the command line. Personally, I was "emulating" an IDE long before there was such a thing as an IDE, and I still don't make much use of IDEs, though I have developed a fondness for KDevelop.

I'm also unsure about what exactly the question means, but if I was faced with it (in roughly this position in my education), I think I'd be trying to answer it in roughly this way:

• say what you think an IDE does for you (mostly convenience/automation functions in selecting, editing, building, debugging)
• describe in general terms how you can provide those functions in a relatively simple program with some sort of graphical-ish interface

so, I'd be describing a system which had either/both of a curses-type interface and something that used a more common graphical toolkit to do something like change directories, select files, build software from a 'choose number to select file' type interface.

I have no idea whether this is the right kind of answer and have no idea how much detail is required and I've completely ignored the debugging end of things, because I've no idea how to do it.