The problem is that there are so many IDEs that try to do everything for all these different paradigms. Visual Studio and Eclipse, for instance, both try to be your go-to place for server-side development (often in multiple languages), front-end stuff (HTML, CSS, Javascript, Silverlight, etc) and then they're also attaching process-related stuff like various forms of testing, collaboration, code reviewing, deployment, release/build management etc. They're also platforms, supporting plugins or add-ins that means they have to be highly configurable and expose plenty of their core structure as APIs. That kind of design is going to lead to overhead in places.
I'd like to see people start designing smaller, nicher editors that solve a few problems well. Make me a great C# editor that does that and debugging but nothing else. Build me a great editor for web apps that takes modern web app design challenges into account (none of the IDEs do).
And don't just say it, do it. We're all developers, right? So we can take the first step and build something that solves a few problems without having to be stuck in the generic all-encompassing world of the IDE, with its toolbars and endless icons. I'm doing it: we invented and are developing a web based HTML prototyping tool that's sort of like a stripped down HTML IDE. We're specifically looking at all the things IDEs do and what we want to keep, change, or throw away. It's a challenge but it's making our product very lean, focused, and easy to use.
I'd like to see people start designing smaller, nicher editors that solve a few problems well. Make me a great C# editor that does that and debugging but nothing else. Build me a great editor for web apps that takes modern web app design challenges into account (none of the IDEs do).
And don't just say it, do it. We're all developers, right? So we can take the first step and build something that solves a few problems without having to be stuck in the generic all-encompassing world of the IDE, with its toolbars and endless icons. I'm doing it: we invented and are developing a web based HTML prototyping tool that's sort of like a stripped down HTML IDE. We're specifically looking at all the things IDEs do and what we want to keep, change, or throw away. It's a challenge but it's making our product very lean, focused, and easy to use.