From time to time I run across development tools that get me really interested. Either I end up using them in my main toolset as soon as I feel moderately comfortable using them or I atleast keep a tab on how they are coming along. In the past year or so, I've come across some fun projects and I see a bright future for them (or atleast I hope for a bright future for them). So, in no particular order, here are 4 tools you really should try out if you haven't done so already.

1. Fossil SCM
This is *the* tool that made me want to write this blog post. Its a distributed version control system made by the creator of SQLite. And like SQLite, its small and self-contained. The whole project is a single executable which features not only a good DVCS but a bug tracker and Wiki built-in complete with a fairly decent web interface. Yes, you got that right - all in one executable just under 400KB! And its pretty usable too, I've used it for a small project and it worked quite decently.
http://www.fossil-scm.org

2. Console2
A much better command prompt for Windows than the standard cmd.exe. The biggest advantage is the tab support which allows you to run multiple command prompts in the same window. Not too mention, its slightly better looking too.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/

3. CGI::Application + HTML::Template
So you're a Perl hacker who wants to jump into the shiny MVC web app coding but have no idea what the heck is Ruby and/or Rails, fear no more. CGI::Application alongwith HTML::Template provide a really lightweight and easy-to-use MVC framework that's clean, fast and extensible. Don't be misled by its harmless sounding name, its really quite cutting edge and is much easier if you know Perl and don't want to learn a complicated framework (relatively) like Catalyst or learn a new programming language.
http://www.cgi-app.org/

4. Viki
If you use Vim for your coding tasks, try the Viki plugin which is basically a wiki built right into Vim. Its super useful for taking notes while not leaving your code editor and having the modal interface is a big plus if you get used to it. I use it frequently to keep a tab on what I am thinking right before I jump on making the code. And oh, also for writing some things I can't put in comments of a code I'm planning to share
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=861

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'd know that I use Vim for most of my development work. Its just so damn fast at editing text and not having to reach for the mouse for every little thing is a big big plus. Then I discovered the Vimperator extension for Firefox which basically claims to make Firefox Vim-like, and I'm not disappointed.

Upon installation you'd notice that the top bar, navigation, search etc. are all gone. But you get the normal mode of Vi(m) to do operations. 'o' URL opens the URL, :to opens the URL in a new tab. And in typical style :wq saves your session and quits. There are of course some minor differences but mostly it follows the command mode well. Which is doubly beneficial since you can improve your Vi chops at the same time.

Using it for about a month now, and I must say that my speed of navigation around the web is significantly faster. The best is the h-j-k-l movement and closing a tab with only 'd'. Though to be honest I've still not figured out how to select the correct text from an article.

Give it a shot, if you're a Vi(m) lover, you won't be disappointed.
http://vimperator.org

1. Perl6
My primary language's next version, a decade in the making. There is enough progress going on in Rakudo and Parrot to make me satisfied that Perl6 is not vaporware. A better OOP support like the one in Moose/Mouse would be top in my wishlist and Larry Wall has promised just that. Here's hoping another couple of decades of Perl.

2. Clojure
Who in their right minds doesn't get excited over a Lisp with batteries included? Clojure may be just be the next big step in Lisp (and many have this view already), mostly for the fact that it is an evolutionary step from Common Lisp and is built on the JVM. The latter matters a great deal because Clojure can access the rock solid libs already built for Java. No more hunting and asdf installs of relatively unknown libs.

3. F#
The first functional programming language from a big player (Microsoft), it is slated to be included with Visual Studio 2010 and with full access to the DotNet framework. Its OCaml at the core but the libs and the Visual Studio integration would matter a lot to the bigger companies wanting to take a look at FP. Having the name of Microsoft surely couldn't hurt.

4. R7RS Scheme
This is more of a standard than a language implementation per se, but it would be interesting to see where the steering committee goes with this one. The R6RS specification was controversial because many thought it was going against the minimalist philosophy of Scheme while the others welcomed the added practicality of it. If the past is anything to go by, the next specification debate would be highly interesting whichever direction is chosen.

5. Java 7
This is more from a "what next" viewpoint rather than any revolutionary concepts being brought in to Java. I personally want to see how the Java platform survives and progresses after the recent turn of events between Sun and Oracle. Would it evolve, would it stagnate, would it become unusable? Well, we'll have to wait and see.

7th May 2009 will always be remembered as the day when 3D Realms, the studio responsible for the Duke Nukem series, was shutdown. This means that the legendary Duke Nukem Forever title development has finally come to a halt after 12 long years of development. It had become a joke in tech communities all over that the game would never be released and this is like a final nail in the coffin.

Snide remarks aside, I still have fond memories of Duke Nukem 3D in the 90s. It created a cult following when it came out and was majorly responsible in taking the genre forward along with Doom and Quake. If there was ever a game where the character has guts, charisma and a wit about him - it was Duke. Sadly, the next title in the series was delayed by so many years that it never saw the light of day. In 1998, 3D Realms switched the core engine from Quake 2 to Unreal and that was the starting of the long, long wait.

Somehow, reading the news about DNF never being developed made me feel a little nostalgic. I wish the game had been completed, just so that the taint of always-in-development goes away. But that hope has also flickered out. Here's to Duke, 3D Realms and Apogee - thanks for all the great gameplay over the years. You will always be remembered, I hope in positive light.

Read the full DNF history at: Shacknews.

I use Perforce from time to time for small hobby projects and if there is one version control system that has impressed me - it is this one. I've used or atleast tried using Subversion, CVS, Component Software RCS, Bazaar, Fossil and Darcs. Out of these I don't think I'm in a position to comment much on CVS, Subversion or Darcs since I've not used them beyond a couple of hours or so.

My experiences with Bazaar were mixed since it worked fine for a long time for me and I usually don't have big repositories, so the oft-repeated criticism of performance was not a problem for me. But after upgrading to a recent released build I found the new GUI they had bundled on the lines of TortoiseSVN and the like was not really release quality (for me atleast) since I kept running into commit issues with it - though they worked smoothly from the command line. I happened to run into Perforce and since their license is liberal for a team of 2 (or less than), and I'm a solitary team of one - why the heck not give it a shot.

And I was blown away by three things - firstly their setup ease-of-use, second the bloat free server and lastly their awesome client UI. Coming from a bad UI experience of bzr, it was a refreshing change to see how P4V (their client UI) worked. It looked polished, something that people thought out, rigorously tested and felt just right. I've never seen a version control system interface that looked so intuitive. All the things in all the right places. If there is one thing the new guns must learn from Perforce, its their commitment to quality. The server code was also pretty responsive and surprisingly bloat free.

Fossil, the new DVCS from the creator of SQLite also promises to be an exciting development. However, I could never really get it running just right according to me. This maybe my fault I admit, however being a small and new project, the docs are sparse. Frustratingly I gave up after a week. Thankfully, Perforce was still running along fine.

Before this starts looking like an advert to you, I *do* have a couple of disappointments with Perforce. Firstly - branching is either not as easy or not as intuitive as I'd like it to be. In a Client-Server model, I found the branching abilities of Subversion to be superior. The second is kinda annoying - if you change the installation folder of Perforce, the new P4V help location still points to the old one, which shows up the HTML help equivalents of 404. If I ever need to look up the help I have to go through the PDF user guide, which is fantastic by the way.

All in all, Perforce is a mighty fine version control system - scalable, stable and intuitive. It would benefit the newer boys in the game to learn from it. Especially with regards to its UI and documentation.