>>> in any case, even humble C can do that, provided a Makefile is ready.
>>> heck, Makefiles are language-agnostic even...
>>
>> Makefiles only work on Unix. :-P But hey, you can write a simple script
>> to build your project under Windows.
>
> WAT?

To tell you the truth, I don't even /like/ Make all that much. (I think 
it's the tab characters. Or the slightly clunky way it deals with 
targets that aren't files.) I only really use it for building C, because 
it's either that or work out how to invoke the compiler manually...

But as I say, a tiny amount of shell scripting will automate most tasks, 
without the need for Make.

>> The /real/ problem, of course, is that you have to open a command
>> window, CD to the right folder, and type in "make program1" or whatever.
>> This takes significantly longer than pressing F7 (or whatever).
>
> Which you only have to do once... After that you only need to hit
> ALT-TAB and the up arrow.

That works great - /until/ your command history has more than one 
command in it. E.g., if you use the same window to run the compiler, run 
the main program, and control your SCM. Then you end up jabbing up-arrow 
endlessly, or executing the wrong command, or both. Very annoying.

(I wonder why nobody has yet thought of making an editor where you can 
add buttons to the toolbar and kind arbitrary commands to them? You 
could even give them keyboard shortcuts...)

> Starting notepad++ and a command prompt take significantly less time
> than starting any IDE.

Depends on the IDE. Some are slower than others. I do take your point 
though - some of them do take an absurd amount of time to start. Then 
again, "you only do that once". :-P

>> Sure, once you take your hands off the keyboard and onto the mouse to
>> switch from the text editor window to the command prompt window. :-P
>>
>
> As mentioned previously, ALT-TAB. Much faster.

And if in the middle of your coding session, you quickly switch to your 
email client to check something, next time you try to use Alt+Tab, it 
takes you to the wrong window.

It sounds trivial, but it's really very, very annoying.

(It becomes even more fun when what you're working on involves more 
windows. E.g., right now I'm writing some TeX, so I have my text editor 
open, my command window open, and my DVI window open. You can 100% 
guarantee that almost every time I change window I change to the wrong 
one...)

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