On 01/20/2017 12:51 PM, william degnan via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I personally don't use them at all, but that's only a matter of personal preference and is thus irrelevant to any of this.
Benefits
Primarily because it reduces the amount of key and clicks I make, on my fingers I use something simple like Notepad++ or Eclipse in a basic mode. I still write code within, but it's nice to get the color codiing, etc. Why not?
1) syntax checker saves time 2) shortcut keys to perform various tasks (open a comment) 3) linking libraries and stuff like that, things I did not code but need to include 4) compile shortcuts.
All very good points. However, I will point out that 1, 3, and 4 above are functionalities that are not exclusive to IDEs. I use all three of those every day, without an IDE. Number 3 is handled in the Makefile...I might add a library or two, or three or ten, across the development phase of a project, but that really just consists of pulling the Makefile into an editor and adding the new library to the list. Note well that I am not even coming close to arguing that YOU should not use an IDE.
My fingers and wrists can get worn out after a week of heavy coding, and I am more about the thinking / logic than the typing exercise. My guess Dave is you have a lot of personal little short cuts and processes that you use for your own personalized IDE. Probably IDE's show you down, which I can understand.
IDEs very much slow me down. That may not be the case for other people, and that's ok of course. I've been using emacs for text editing for nearly my whole life, to the point where I can't really tell you what the command keys I use every day are, I just DO them. I think it boils down to muscle memory or something like that. They say "emacs becomes an extension of your mind", but I think that applies to any tool (text editor, pair of pliers..) that remains consistent and that a person uses for a long time, and I think what they're really saying is "it becomes automatic", probably due to muscle memory. Psychologists would probably be better equipped to explain how all that works. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA