Re: Xcode - An Apple Embarrassment
Re: Xcode - An Apple Embarrassment
- Subject: Re: Xcode - An Apple Embarrassment
- From: Fritz Anderson <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:55:54 -0600
On 28 Feb 2012, at 9:10 PM, Gwynne Raskind wrote:
> I have to agree as well. Xcode 3 was getting pretty good for awhile,
> but then Xcode 4 was released, a massive backwards step in
> functionality which has only been getting worse with its point
> releases.
You should bear in mind that Xcode 3 had been in release for three or four years at the time. It was awful for a year after release, and was becoming awful again with the many bags that had to be hung on it (and the many that couldn't) to support modern development techniques.
> Xcode 4's integrated layout may look good on paper, and even work
> better for some people, but for others it's a hopeless struggle to
> manage screen space and get a consistent workflow going. Xcode 3's
> ability to pop open and then close the build progress window was
> delightful; with Xcode 4 I just get the build log in my editor pane
> without being able to see the code I'm working on.
I understand the problem, and it was hard for me, too. Tabs and behaviors go a long way to relieving it. I'll start my season of shameless self-promotion by saying that my book, "Xcode 4 Unleashed" (now in preview on the Safari books site, and final, probably, in April), has a chapter on how to cope, if not to love it. Until then, look for those topics in the Xcode docset in the Documentation organizer.
For other things, I wonder if you aren't just annoyed at the same things being there, only changed. The Symbol navigator presents class hierarchies. The Debug area and navigator don't consume as much screen space as the equivalent views in the old Debugger and console windows. Devoting a whole window to a list of breakpoints was ludicrous.
> Why can't I enable Guard Malloc
Scheme editor > Run panel (the default) > Diagnostics tab. Two gestures, and it's possible to use the option along with others.
> or change the debugger used for unit tests?
Scheme editor > Test panel > Info tab (the default). Two gestures, and a dedicated editor related to the target, not a three-or-four-gesture bag hung over the obscure notion of "not-exactly-an-executable" in the file list.
Take some time to see what's in the Scheme editor, even if you're seething over it.
> And Xcode 4 itself is, as a whole, sluggish in every respect.
It's an appalling memory hog, and Xcode engineer postings here have been insouciant about "but I _want_ to use every byte of RAM I paid for!" And, apparently, every byte of swap space. It's getting better, but I still have to quit the thing every couple of days. Switching between code files isn't a problem on my three-year-old MacBook Pro, but my IB tab is a pain. That you're having more trouble than I am makes me wonder if you have room for more RAM. My MBP carries 8 GB.
I hope I don't get "fanboi" responses. There are bugs. I think the switch to a browser was a close call, and reasonable people are entitled to be angry about it. I just opened a project in which all but a handful of files had disappeared from the navigator. (No, I toggled all the filters. The solution was to right-click a file in a Compile Sources phase, and select Reveal in Project Navigator). That was frightening and vexatious. Bugs do seem to be accumulating (though you should see the difference between final previews and releases). I'm just saying that workarounds for many issues are there if you're willing to see them, and that Xcode 3 doesn't deserve unconditional nostalgia.
— F
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