CPIde is a lightweight integrated development environment for Windows which enables you to write software for the Microsoft Windows .NET platform. The programming language supported by CPIde is Component Pascal. If you don't have Visual Studio .NET, or find it too cumbersome to use, but don't like the idea of using command-line compilers with DOS batch files etc. CPIde is a useful alternative .NET development environment.
The Component Pascal Language
Component Pascal (CP), a small superset of Oberon-2, is a general-purpose, procedural and object-oriented, programming language. Oberon-2 is a refinement of Modula-2 which, in turn, was an improved version of Pascal. Programmers with experience of any of these languages will find many aspects of Component Pascal very familiar.
Component Pascal was developed by Oberon microsystems, Inc. who distribute a Win32 implementation of the language as part of the open-source BlackBox Component Builder.
The version of Component Pascal used by CPIde is Gardens Point Component Pascal (GPCP) - an implementation of the language which targets both the Microsoft .NET Framework and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The .NET version is available as a command-line compiler and as a beta version integrated into Visual Studio .NET. The .NET version of Component Pascal can be used to develop applications to run on the Windows desktop, webservers and Pocket PCs.
CPIde Features
CPIde has the following features:
- General Windows, programmer-oriented, text-editing features
- Fast and responsive interactive operation
- Create and run Console and WinForms applications
- Tabbed multi-document interface for editing multiple source files
- Auto-indexing of procedures and imports of each source file for code navigation
- Auto-capitalisation of Component Pascal keywords when typing source code
- Generate and view interface definition files of .NET or 3rd-party assemblies
- Control the complete Edit, Compile, Make, Run and Debug cycle from the menu
- Capture compile errors and console application output in a separate window
- Click on an error line to take you to the actual line in the source