What I always liked about other compilers was the ease to compile simple examples. Just write a C file and call

gcc hello_world.c

This mechanism is also available in the new version of EiffelStudio. So when you want to do a quick test, just write your root class and call

ec hello_world.e

It is even possible to use some libraries in your example. If you need Vision2 for example, just add a library argument to the commandline:

ec hello_gui_world.e -library vision2

ec hello_gui_world.e -library vision2 -library gobo

When you do a single file compilation the Eiffel compiler does the following:

• The filename is taken to look for an ecf file with the same name as the class file.
• If it does not yet exist, a new ecf file is generated. It consists of:
  • A target with the same name as the class file
  • The class name as root class and make as root feature
  • The directory of the class file as root cluster
  • The setting console application set as true unless Vision2 or WEL is used as a library.
  • EiffelBase and libraries set via the commandline option added.
• A workbench compilation is done using the ECF file.
• The generated executable is copied into the current working directory.

I believe this mechanism makes it a lot easier to write simple examples in Eiffel by removing the work of writing a configuration file by hand or the need of using EiffelStudio for this.