Re: Spoiled by Java IDEs
Re: Spoiled by Java IDEs
- Subject: Re: Spoiled by Java IDEs
- From: Jens Ayton <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:38:50 +0200
On Jul 18, 2008, at 16:18, Graham Perks wrote:
I'm with you on the migration from Java IDEs. The Xcode experts here
will defend Xcode, but sadly tools like Eclipse are light-years
ahead of Xcode. I can only think this is due to it using GCC, GCC
being GPL, and they don't want Xcode to be GPL so there are some
restrictions on what the IDE can do. My guess is that's why all the
activity around clang/LLVM, they will be able to produce a really
good IDE on top of that toolset.
There is no need for speculation on this point. Apple reps have
publicly stated (I believe in the session “New LLVM C Front-end”,
video at http://llvm.org/devmtg/2007-05/) that one reason for clang is
that the GCC team has historically been dismissive of suggestions to
make it more IDE-friendly. Maintaining a branch of GCC with a
radically redesigned front-end would negate much of the advantage of
using GCC in the first place while requiring large amounts of work on
an infamously messy code base.
I've always said Xcode's key bindings were designed by a non-
programmer. Seriously, debugging, what are the common operations?
Step over, step into, right? Any sensible IDE binds these to a
function key so it's one key press. Maybe the F keys aren't
available, so make it alt-o, alt-i or something so only two
keypresses.
Possibly it was designed by someone familiar with the Human Interface
Guidelines? Option-o and option-i are text insertion keystrokes.
Commands should always involve the command key. It is an unfortunate
fact that there are very few command-key combinations without
additional modifiers that don’t have reserved or conventional meanings
already. F-keys are reserved for systemwide shortcuts. The wisdom of
that may be debatable, but it’s water under the bridge.
--
Jens Ayton
Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary
of the Information Purification Directives.
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