[corruption]

Even though code is text, you would think someone would have tried to build a different view given the popularity of MVC.

Inline expansion would be nice. So would code paths. So would inline images & html rendering for documentation. So would the relevant rendered html for the issue relating to the code you are looking at. So would other annotations. And what about visually hiding code when working in a language like java?

I tried to get this going in eclipse once, and it really wasn't going to happen easily so I gave up. I've always hoped someone would build something similar as I feel it would really help productivity having everything relevant right there with the code.

Note: The project http://code.google.com/p/lambda4jdt/ is the closest thing I have found to what I am suggesting which I think shows the power. It just goes to show that it could work.

[bruceboughton]

Indeed, MS are trying to encourage this with the new WPF-based editor in VS2010. The developer's examples are all about graphical overlays replacing certain types of code. It will be interesting to see if ISVs take this forward.

[vilya]

Jonathan Edwards' Subtext programming language might be of interest to you: http://www.subtextual.org/

[ollysb]

regarding lambda4jdt: It's a sorry state of affairs when you're relying on the IDE to hide the noise in a language.

[corruption]

Let's say you had an eclipse plugin that let you write in lisp, but it actually converted the code to java underneath. You could click a button to switch between views. Are you saying that would be a bad thing? If a tool allows you to be more productive, I use it. Note: I don't use lambda4jdt at all, I just like the idea of creating problem specific views for code and I don't think that belongs at the language level.

[ollysb]

You're right, my comment was directed at your example really; the code before and after use the same representation, text. In that case it seems the original was simply a poor textual representation of the logic. I'm actually a firm believer in being able to visualise code. After all coding really gets done in my head and when it's in there it's in 3D images/videos. I long for the day when I can work in an immersive environment where I can walk around the design suspended in the air. That day seems a long way off at the moment though :)