Monodevelop Sucks

Monodevelop is complete and utter garbage. I spend more time waiting for this pile of crap to re-load the solution than writing code. Why must it re-load the entire solution just because I moved, created, or deleted a file?

It's unusable. It's time to take this pathetic creature out behind the barn and shoot it.

Please replace it with something better--perhaps the newer version AKA Xamarin Studio? I don't know if it's any better...but it HAS to be!

When it reloads the solution, it takes up 240% of my CPU resources...I have to go get a soda or something while the thing crunches away for 5 minutes trying to reload the project.

UTTER. GARBAGE.

 

There are several people who are already using Xamarin Studio. You find some useful tips here in the forums about how to use it. The main draw back so far is that you can't debug Unity from Xamarin Studio (yet).

 

Then the title to your thread would have been more helpful to those that want to help as "MonoDevelop: trouble with disable "Symbol Usage Highlighting" or similar rather than an invitation to whine as you did and I did in this threat.

 

I'm switching over to Visual Studio Express, MonoDevelop is okay but i'd recommend experimenting with other programs and see which one you like!

 

http://monodevelop.com

Mono Dev 4 is out - looks nice - Unity please upgrade

 

Don't keep your breath on it. Unity do not even have version 3. We're still on MonoDevelop 2.8.2 ... ~.~

 

We are tied to MD 2.8 because right now the IDE is kind of a frankestein unity-modded-version of MonoDevelop. Having an addin instead, would restore the freedom to upgrade/change between versions of MonoDevelop at will. This independence should be the strategic view to replace the current approach, or we will end up in the same situation in a few months.

So:

Feature Request at Unity Feedback: MonoDevelop Add-in instead of Custom version of MonoDevelop

(Btw, is not my request, I found it, and Im supporting it).

 

+1 to the mono develop suckiness

Got to this page searching why I couldn't inspect generic lists while debugging, now I now why

 

Totally agree. Only use it for debugging. I generally write unit tests for everything that doesn't inherit from MonoBehavior and test them in VS. I saw the UnityVS extension as well... I haven't tried it but it looks pretty cool:
http://unityvs.com/

 

I would agree that MonoDevelop is becoming a bottleneck to Unity's fluidness.

Just so many weirds things about how it works, and the debugging could be made alot better.

 

You guys might want to take a look at this then: http://www.cliffordroche.ca/monodevelop-4-xamarin-studio-debugging-in-unity/

 

that is so awsome

 

Awesome indeed, althoug I really hope a definitive solution from Unity.

 

I ended here again, because I had forgotten the inability to inspect generic collections on the debugger

 

A miracle has happened. At Unite 2013 it was announced that Unity 4.3 will have a new version of MonoDevelop.

They said that you want to curse it a lot less.

 

I hope they dont went the "custom monodevelop build" path as before, and instead had taken MonoDevelop Add-in instead of Custom version of MonoDevelop approach.

Otherwise, we are still captive of the Unity development cycle times, instead of the Monodevelop itself.

In other words, if Monodevelop releases a new version, and we are not free to upgrade, we are in a very similar situation than before.

 

I took a look at the Xamarin studio debugging plugin mentioned above. (http://www.cliffordroche.ca/monodevelop-4-xamarin-studio-debugging-in-unity/)

I haven't tested it yet, but I'm getting frustrated enough with the existing MonoDevelop (which I've been staying with because it has debugging) that I'm going to try it out in the next few days. The biggest problem for me with the current version, (by far), is how slow it's refactoring tool is. It ends up being faster, usually, just doing a global Find Replace, which has its own set of problems. (you can't "undo" it, and so have to make sure all the matches it finds are correct--as well as a couple of other problems)

Has anyone had success with it, so far? (in particular, with Unity 4.2?)

 

Well I got it to work.

When I tried to install it said it had an error:
“The installation failed!

There was an error while scanning assembly: C:\Program Files(x86)\Xamarin Studio\AddIns\VersionControl\SharpSvn-SASL21-23-Win32.dll”

But I started the game, attached the debugger, added a checkpoint, and it successfully hit it. I then looked at some variable data, and stepped through the code, and all looked fine. There is an issue that you have to only attach after you hit Play in Unity, and hit Play again to stop the game only after you detach the debugger, (otherwise Unity crashes), but it seems to actually work fine.

I'm not sure I'll keep it, since the extra two steps annoy me, and MonoDevelop 4.0 has a couple other issues (like not loading the UnityScript projects/assemblies), but I thought I'd mention it in case others are thinking about trying it.

Note that I got it working using the latest version of Unity (4.2.0f4), and the latest stable version of MonoDevelop (4.0.12).

 

Today's Unity update includes a new version of monodevelop.

I wish I had better things to say about it. Generic collections still can't be debugged. I tried to take a screenshot of the error message and the whole thing crashed on me.

 

I can't even get the new MD to run on mine. It just crashes after flashing the splash screen twice. @_@
I think I'm overdue for a reformat but I can't afford the downtime!

 

Tried the new 4.0.1 twice. Crashed once while loading a shader. Good effort.

 

Anyone notice that the new Unity MonoDevelop hangs for MAC on Mavericks if you attempt to click the Run/Play button? I get a pop up window saying Attach to process which just hangs. I can't cancel out. What makes this really odd is that I'm opening a separate MonoDevelop Project to run my Lidgren Server code. I can run my server fine if I navigate the MonoDevelop menus to Run application without debugging.

 

Couldn't agree more. I've tried getting away from IntelliJ use both at work and at home, and especially for anyone dealing with JavaScript, IntelliJ destroys everything else on the market that I've seen.

 

I just noticed that MonoSuck was single stepping through blank lines (yes I saved the file before).

Magic!

Edit:
This piece of crap just turned super laggy again. If I type a character there is a 1/4th second or so delay before I see anything. I am going to renew my UnityVS license.

 

Okay...I don't normally contribute to forums with the title "[THIS THING] Sucks," but wow...this new Monodevelop really does suck.

Unity projects/solutions are prone to failing to load. In previous versions of Mono, I'd get a dialog box, dismiss it, go to the solution explorer, and simply reload the solution. It would usually work pretty well after that.

But this new version of Mono has a splash screen that BLOCKS THE EFFING DIALOG BOX. That dialog box cannot be dismissed because Mono's splash screen is in the way. As a result, I can't dismiss the dialog and reload the solution. I instead have to kill the process and reload Mono.

And what's up with the same file being open in multiple tabs? The old Mono was smart enough to know a file was open, and would just put focus on that tab when laucned, but this new version, when launched by double-clicking a script in the Unity Editor, will open copy after copy after copy of the file that I clicked in the Unity Project tree.

Way to go, guys.

 

Oh, I thought it was just me. But the Monodevelop takes after a while a big chunk of processing power 70% i73500k processor at idle ? that is just wierd and that missing files and projects is just a big big problem with hiding messagebox. Also sometimes the debugger just doesent work? What has happened, the older version of monodevelop environment was decent.

Hope these will be fixed.

 

Im almost sure this issues are in the Unity custom version of MonoDevelop, and not in the latest MonoDevelop version. Is a pitty that a pretty decent IDE be desmembered into a pretty poor pice of software like this.

In all reality, this terrible annoying issues (that nowadays are not expected even in alpha versions) could have been avoided by using a full plugin approach, instead of keep pushing this custom version of MonoDevelop that nobody mantains.

AGAIN, and again:

http://feedback.unity3d.com/suggestions/monodevelop-addin-instead-of-cu

 

MonoDevelop is pretty horrible. It's been so bad on Mac, I've just given up and installed TextWrangler - sure it doesn't have all of the auto-completion stuff that MD has, but honestly I find that a relief - it messed up my code more often than it helped!

I'll definitely vote on that feedback thread!

 

The interface seems a bit better, but like some have mentioned there are some new issues.

At least they're moving the Mono version forward finally. (it's better to have issues, which they then can fix, then to see they aren't doing anything at all, and letting it just get increasingly outdated)

 

WTF happened to MonoDevelop in the last Unity 4.3 release?
It's too bugged >___<!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That blocking dialog has been there from the beginning. It is not really a good start. I mean, what use is it. Does the program need to force its loading process in your face? And how many programs have an on-top-of-all loading screen these days? Almost none. Why? Because it SUCKS!

Thank god there is UnityVS.

 

This is driving me crazy! The old MonoDevelop, pre-Unity 4.0 worked fine for me. However, now everything is messing up. It crashes, the auto-complete won't work, or the auto-complete won't work correctly (auto-completes some things but not Unity things). It indents 8 spaces instead of 4 for some projects while indenting 4 spaces in others. I've tried altering the project settings, the "Solution Options" and the Policies. I've created policies in projects that I like and exported them, then even importing them to new projects doesn't work.

Do the people at Unity use MonoDevelop? How are they coping with these issues?

As I type I'm installing Visual Studio on my Window's machine, but I don't know what I'm going to do on my Mac Laptop. I've wasted hours and hours of work time, days and days, fighting with my tools. Messing with options trying to get things to work, uninstalling and reinstalling Unity.

I installed Xarman hoping it would work, but nope. This is driving me crazy. I was seriously about to sign up for a Unity Pro account, but now I'm not so sure I want to. I mean, what good is it if I can't create my projects because it doesn't work?

=-=-=-=

Why is it, every time I save, my cursor jumps to the top of the file?

 

I've been wondering that for years. For me, 2.x NEVER worked fine. It was absolutely a bug hell. Autocomplete NEVER worked and many other things, so I'm kind of surprised to see some people only complaining now about the new version. I guess it just works for some and doesn't for others. I was far less productive in MD than in Uniscite which I used for years, but eventually went to VS and will never, ever look back. However the mac issue does sound like a serious one without VS. Bootcamp maybe?

 

Ah, yet another thread about MonoDevelop? How did I miss this one for so long?

 

How? I've been developing for the past year and a half with MonoDevelop and I've yet to run into a serious problem.

 

@Neffy

That one is really funny. Sarcasm at its best.

 

For my needs script inspector 2 is ideal, unfortunately you cannot set Unity's prefs to say "null" when choosing a script editor, so I'll be using SI2 and accidentally double click a console message and after 30 seconds of startup I have to shut MD down again. And again.

 

Oh god I hate the new monodevelop. The autocomplete never worked that well for unityscript before, but now it is totally broken - it automatically changes things I've typed, introducing errors, even when I don't select an autocomplete option (replacing "false" with "FalseString" what the hell?!) and sometimes the autocomplete dialogue just won't close, and sits there blocking the screen. Ugh. Just uuuuggghhh. I've been looking for alternatives but I have no money :/

 

Ah, thanks a lot AaronC!

Yo know Si2 comes with the SI Console, don't you? On double-click it opens log entries in SI views, and you can even browse the call stack which is a great helper for tracking down bugs! It looks exactly the same as the original Console, so maybe that's not too good - I'll make it slightly different to avoid confusion...

 

Just go to Edit -> Preferences -> External Tools -> Browse and choose a text editor that will open in < 1 second. I just tried it with Notepad2 and it works.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when I started using monodevelop. It was working for me. Then I took a break, and since I came back it is worse. And does anyone know where this comes from:

Internal compiler error. See the console log for more information. output was:
Unhandled Exception: System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path "C:\Users\Patrik\Documents\New Unity Project 1\Temp\Assembly-CSharp.dll.mdb" is denied.

I get that with random intervals and to get rid of it I can (90 % of the occurrences) comment any line, compile, click anywhere in Unity, uncomment the line and compile again.

 

Same problems here ... very annoying editor .. it can't even open correctly ... it takes few tries to make it.
-_-

 

I pass around this thread from time to time to read the comments hoping to find a bit of light.
Is never the case.

When the previous version of Unity's Monodevelop was so ugly, we all looked at the version 4 with hope. How would we imagine that it would be even worst. Looks like its not only that they dont use it internally (at least not on a daily basis), but now feels like pushing us to go grab some third party solution... whats the point of even having it?

At this point Im really frustrated with Unity's MD. I know the real thing is not that bad, Xamarin's MD is pretty nice, but the custom version Unity is providing is the worst thing since a long time. Freezes, glitches, half-hangs, arbitrarily unresponsive debugging (like breakpoints ceasing to work until MD restart), double tabs for the same file, innumerable errors on opening the project, splash screen hiding error windows, unresponsive tabs, and WHATNOT.

So...

I highly recommend to support this third party project: Script Inspector 2.
The developer is really responsive, and its a solution that aboards the depth and complexity of a modern code editor, very seriously. Also, on the long roadmap, there is a chance of having debuggin in it! I highly recommend to read the developer posts of the extension threads.

Also, and as always, I propose you to vote here: MonoDevelop Add-in instead of Custom version of MonoDevelop.
This is in the hope that Unity provide something more encapsulated, that will bring more flexibility to the table.

Thats it.
Hope to have transformed a rant post into something more constructive.

 

MonoDevelop still seem to suck. Look at this beauty caused by Ctrl+Z bug (I didn't even edit that line!):

Code (csharp):

1. if (savedGame.Length =SaveChunk return;
2. }

Also, similar mess was in other places of the file as well.

I can't really reproduce that error now, all I can say is that I was messing around with Reflection and it might be some undo diff issue or something. I might have a syntax error as well (unfinished line), but that should cause formatting errors at most. I don't really care, though, because I'm switching to other editor immediately. I endured other quirks as well patiently, but that's it, I'm done.

Novack - voted

 

Thanks Novack! And thanks to everyone else who took his advice! I really appreciate that!

 

Why does every damn time I double click a script, Monodevelop have to act like its closing down and restarting?

Seriously Unity Tech this editor is a POS and you ought to just ditch it. Its utter garbage.

 

Or allow us to set external script editor to "null" so we can just use scriptInspector2 which is way more awesome than anything MonoD has ever been. Any accidental double clicks means that the titanic beast that is Mono develop has to stop everything while it magestically boots up putting a 30 second handbrake on development just to have this shovelware invite itself to the party. Honestly...

 

+100%, is the worst Editor I ever seen in the last 15 yrs, I will not enumerate the problems and bugs, just trying to find an alternative ..

 

It's still better than eclipse. Use Visual Studio as an alternative. Get the pro sku and get visual studio tools for unity. Works awesome. Even full debugging capabilities.

 

What's that I hear? Monodevelop sucks?