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Xcode 4.2 was atrociously buggy and I frequently had crashes on an hourly basis. 4.3 seems a bit more stable - but lldb still has quite a few issues (understand

Xcode 4.2 was atrociously buggy and I frequently had crashes on an hourly basis. 4.3 seems a bit more stable - but lldb still has quite a few issues (understandable). As a developer, I'd sort of expect a bit more support and _reliability_ from the development tools. It isn't completely a cost center as they do make money from developer subscriptions.

christoph 15y ago
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to experience these constant crashes. It got to the point where my colleagues were convinced it was something wrong with my code/project that was causing it to crash constantly (I'm the only one using Xcode here). It's a great tool and I am glad for the constant improvements Apple seem to be making, but it is a source of regular frustration for me at the moment.
- aerique 15y ago
  Same here, I just finished a 3 month gig building a prototype for a startup on an iPad and I was surprised how often the latest Xcode crashed and how unstable it was. However, in its defense, I never lost work due to it and it always restarted with my window config intact.
- reidmain 15y ago
  Have you been upgrading your Xcode installs or installing from scratch? I have a theory that Apple really doesn't test the upgrade path much and a lot of the problems I've seen seem to stem from that. If true reinstalling everytime is definitely not an acceptable solution but at least it is a solution.
  - jonhendry 15y ago
    With 4.3 Xcode is self-contained, so this shouldn't be an issue.
    - reidmain 15y ago
      True but these complaints of crashing seem to be about Xcode 4.2 and below because 4.3 just came out. I haven't even upgraded to it yet.
napierzaza 15y ago
>It isn't completely a cost center as they do make money from developer subscriptions. That's a weird statement. Do you think that employees at Apple use something other than xCode? Surely they have access to private classes but I don't think they are currently developing two distinct IDEs. Secondly, I think that Apple is probably aware that 3rd party developers are holding up the entire iOS eco-system. It seems like a lot of people are taking these bugs very personally.
Timothee 15y ago
It isn't completely a cost center as they do make money from developer subscriptions. More than the developer subscriptions, they make money by having an attractive platform by making sure developers are happy to develop for their platform. "Here's a free shiny shovel that works great!" I think the subscriptions are mostly a small barrier to entry so that not everybody and their grandmother get their own license. For example, if licenses were free, it'd be much easier to share and install open-source software, bypassing completely the App Store. As it is, you'd need to save $99 in apps before it's useful.
- duskwuff 15y ago
  > I think the subscriptions are mostly a small barrier to entry so that not everybody and their grandmother get their own license. For example, if licenses were free, it'd be much easier to share and install open-source software, bypassing completely the App Store. The XCode download is free. You only need a Mac developer subscription to distribute your apps through the App Store.

christoph 15y ago

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to experience these constant crashes. It got to the point where my colleagues were convinced it was something wrong with my code/project that was causing it to crash constantly (I'm the only one using Xcode here). It's a great tool and I am glad for the constant improvements Apple seem to be making, but it is a source of regular frustration for me at the moment.

aerique 15y ago
Same here, I just finished a 3 month gig building a prototype for a startup on an iPad and I was surprised how often the latest Xcode crashed and how unstable it was. However, in its defense, I never lost work due to it and it always restarted with my window config intact.
reidmain 15y ago
Have you been upgrading your Xcode installs or installing from scratch? I have a theory that Apple really doesn't test the upgrade path much and a lot of the problems I've seen seem to stem from that. If true reinstalling everytime is definitely not an acceptable solution but at least it is a solution.
- jonhendry 15y ago
  With 4.3 Xcode is self-contained, so this shouldn't be an issue.
  - reidmain 15y ago
    True but these complaints of crashing seem to be about Xcode 4.2 and below because 4.3 just came out. I haven't even upgraded to it yet.

napierzaza 15y ago

>It isn't completely a cost center as they do make money from developer subscriptions. That's a weird statement. Do you think that employees at Apple use something other than xCode? Surely they have access to private classes but I don't think they are currently developing two distinct IDEs. Secondly, I think that Apple is probably aware that 3rd party developers are holding up the entire iOS eco-system. It seems like a lot of people are taking these bugs very personally.

Timothee 15y ago

It isn't completely a cost center as they do make money from developer subscriptions. More than the developer subscriptions, they make money by having an attractive platform by making sure developers are happy to develop for their platform. "Here's a free shiny shovel that works great!" I think the subscriptions are mostly a small barrier to entry so that not everybody and their grandmother get their own license. For example, if licenses were free, it'd be much easier to share and install open-source software, bypassing completely the App Store. As it is, you'd need to save $99 in apps before it's useful.

duskwuff 15y ago
> I think the subscriptions are mostly a small barrier to entry so that not everybody and their grandmother get their own license. For example, if licenses were free, it'd be much easier to share and install open-source software, bypassing completely the App Store. The XCode download is free. You only need a Mac developer subscription to distribute your apps through the App Store.