[mac-lisp-ide] multiple-choice question

[Gary Byers]

Which of the following paradigms would people most like to see in a Mac
lisp IDE ?  (As used below, the term "window" means what [X]Emacs would
call a "frame", i.e., a window-system window, and the term "view" means
about what [X]Emacs would call a "window": some portion of a window-system
window used to present a buffer and associated info (modeline, etc.)).

a) traditional Mac/Cocoa behavior, where there's typically a 1:1
relationship between a buffer and a window and usually a single view
per window; the distinction between a buffer/view/window is often
nearly (and sometimes completely) blurred.

b) traditional [X]Emacs behavior, where buffers can be presented in
arbitrary views in arbitrary windows.

c) (a) and (b) aren't mutually exclusive: the two paradigms can be
integrated in an intuitive, usable fashion (perhaps by noting that
(a)'s pretty much a proper subset of (b)).  This is an essay question.

d) both (a) and (b) are worth supporting, but they don't mix too well:
a global preference should give the user a choice between (a) and (b).

e) none of the above

I personally lean towards (c), but I'm still working on the essay
question.  I think that it's fair to say that (a)'s simpler to fit
into the Cocoa document-based application model, but I think that
that model's general enough to support (b) as well.

Gary Byers
gb at clozure.com