Hi all,

I am pretty green when it comes to developing software. That being said, I have been using some computer modeling software which has it's own "macro language." It says it is "like BASIC, but without some of the functionality." The language is clumsy and difficult to use effectively without memorizing the manual. I'd like to do a couple things to solve this:

1. Create an IDE which has:
a. "code completion" functionality (like IntelliSense I guess)
b. debugging capabilities (syntax)

The custom "language" has both "functions" and "keywords" which are stored in an ASCII text file. These are simply read by the modeling software and executed. One does not need to compile these macros.

What would be an efficient way to start learning how to develop an IDE of this nature for a language like this? Am I biting off more than I can chew? Is there an open-source IDE out there which I can build off of (more likely, strip down)?

Any and all comments are appreciated.

Note: I've kept the software and "language" vague on purpose.