[cdt-debug-dev] Eclipse CDT for Windows and tools for CygWin/Linux

[Øyvind Harboe <oyvind.harboe@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm trying to piece together where I might be w.r.t. tools a year or two
from now.

Below are some thoughts and some speculations on where events might
lead....

Linux has not yet replaced Windows entirely for embedded development.
Meanwhile Linux tools are tortured into Windows service.

CygWin tools with Eclipse CDT:

- CygWin is not 100% compatible with Linux tools and there are
integration pains with Windows
- Performance is << than native Linux apps. It is especially interesting
to see dramatic differences in performance for GCC.
- Eclipse CDT for Windows is in pain having to interface to CygWin
applications(this has improved *significantly*).
- The developer might be stuck with Windows(other applications than
Eclipse, existing skills, etc.).

Possible alternative scheme #1:

- Run Eclipse CDT under Windows
- Run Linux on Windows machine using e.g. www.coLinux.org
- CygWin comes with SSHD, so it might be possible to unify support for
Linux & CygWin under Eclipse for Windows.
- Possible means of interaction between Windows/Linux: CygWin X server,
ssh and samba. 
- the compiler runs under Linux/CygWin
- where do the files live? If the files live on Windows => use samba if
running compiler under Linux. Compilers would run faster if files live
under Linux
- If Eclipse could be trained to access the source files via SSH, they
could live under Linux.
- Eclipse CDT GDB debugging would need to communicate over SSH somehow
- If this scheme could be made to work in a streamlined fashion, I think
it stands to attract the greatest crowd. 

Possible alternative scheme #2:

- Run everything under Linux
- Run Eclipse as X app under Linux. Display on Windows machine using
CygWin X server
- fast compilation times
- no fuzz with cross compiler(linux->embedded) running into trouble with
Eclipse CDT
- CygWin X server is still significantly behind what native Windows apps
can offer in terms of snappyness, stability and integration with other
Windows apps. 
- From my initial tests, the GUI is just too sluggish/painful to use due
to the X server performance/quirks.
- I'm sure this scheme is favoured by Eclipse CDT/developers :-), but it
might attract a very limited audience, making it insignificant.


-- 
Øyvind Harboe
http://www.zylin.com