newbie looking for a debugger and IDE suggestions

[SteveKlett]

I've been tasked with developing a rather large business process
automation system in NetSuite. It won't be executed in a browser
context but rather will run on an application server utilizing said
application's API for database access, etc.

I've never had to do any serious javascript development that
necessitated a rich tool set. That is about to change ;0)

I've been working with JSEclipse but am a bit disappointed with it's
"code completion" system. It seems that it does not consistently take
into consideration the type of object I am working with, especially
when inheritance is involved. For example, if I have a method that
returns a String object, then work with the returned object JSEclipse
doesn't seem to know it's a String and as such doesn't make meaningful
suggestions.

So my first question is what is the richest editor/IDE that has very
powerful code completion capabilities? I've heard Visual Studio 2008
has made some great progress in this area, but that's quite an
investment!

Next question: I'm trying to find a javascript console that will
allow me to enter multi line scripts or even better, load a js file.
The ones I've found by Googling all seem to be single line "eval"
consoles. I'd also like to use a debugger with breakpoints, ability
to step into and over code, etc. I'm aware of the venkmen debugger in
FireFox, but as I said earlier my scripts don't run in a web page. I
suppose as a workaround I could include my script files in a dummy
html page with buttons to invoke different methods. I'd still like to
know if there is anything closer to Visual Studio designed for
javascript.

Short questions:
1) What is the best editor/IDE with code completion supporting
inheritance
2) Are there any console or debuggers out there that can handle more
than a single line

Thanks for any help, it will go a long way in getting me going.

-Steve

 

[RobG]

I've been tasked with developing a rather large business process
automation system in NetSuite.  It won't be executed in a browser
context but rather will run on an application server utilizing said
application's API for database access, etc.

I have no idea how to develop in NetSuite, I think you are much better
off to ask questions in a forum dedicated to that product - there are
some links on the NetSuite developer page, you need to signup for a
login:

I've never had to do any serious javascript development that
necessitated a rich tool set.  That is about to change ;0)

I've been working with JSEclipse but am a bit disappointed with it's
"code completion" system.  It seems that it does not consistently take
into consideration the type of object I am working with, especially
when inheritance is involved.  For example, if I have a method that
returns a String object, then work with the returned object JSEclipse
doesn't seem to know it's a String and as such doesn't make meaningful
suggestions.

That is not surprising, javascript is loosely typed. Consider:

function Foo(arg0, arg1) {
this.bleh = arg0;
this.blah = function(arg) {
return doStuff(arg1);
}
}

var foo = new Foo(zigga, zeega);

var y = foo.blah();

So what is y? Is it a number, string, object?

So my first question is what is the richest editor/IDE that has very
powerful code completion capabilities?  I've heard Visual Studio 2008
has made some great progress in this area, but that's quite an
investment!

A good syntax highlighting text editor with Firefox and Firebug. The
web stuff I've seen produced from Visual Studio is hideous, and likely
not particularly suited to development for a product from a different
vendor.

 

[SteveKlett]

I have no idea how to develop in NetSuite, I think you are much better
off to ask questions in a forum dedicated to that product - there are
some links on the NetSuite developer page, you need to signup for a
login:

<URL:http://www.netsuite.com/portal/developers/main.shtml>

Not sure why I mentioned NetSuite, it's not relevant to my question.
It must have slipped. For my needs I could be developing for any non-
browser javascript host.

That is not surprising, javascript is loosely typed.

True, return values would be impossible to reliably determine. Again,
my example of a method was a bad choice. What I'm really interested
in is code completion supporting inheritance. This is possible yet
many of the editors I've looked at don't seem to handle it well.

Consider:

function Foo(arg0, arg1) {
this.bleh = arg0;
this.blah = function(arg) {
return doStuff(arg1);
}
}

var foo = new Foo(zigga, zeega);

var y = foo.blah();

So what is y? Is it a number, string, object?


A good syntax highlighting text editor with Firefox and Firebug. The
web stuff I've seen produced from Visual Studio is hideous, and likely
not particularly suited to development for a product from a different
vendor.

I tried Visual Studio and it couldn't handle it either. Apparently if
you are using the MS javascript extensions it will play nicely, but it
other libraries it fails and fails big time (stops working all
together).

Thanks for the reply,
Steve