[samatman]

Autocomplete is right on the verge of being a net drain on my productivity and I've turned it off out of pique more than once. It will "randomly"† replace words, and the box obscures text, which greatly pisses me off if I happen to be reading that text.

[†]: Obviously this isn't actually random, it's just hitting a key which tab-completes when I don't expect it to. But it feels random and takes me out of flow.

Syntax highlighting, on the other hand, I was memed into trying to code without it, and I hated it. I suspect, like many things, there are a minority of neurotypes for whom turning it off is better, and a majority who prefer it for good reason.

[marcosdumay]

Oh, I imagine you are using some editor created by the kind of genius that invented autocompletion on space or on enter. Those are at their best when they decide that what you write is just a hint, to be match by proximity instead of literally.

Autocompletion doesn't need to be braindead. Unix terminals have had it for decades, and I have never seen anybody complain.

[JohnFen]

> Unix terminals have had it for decades, and I have never seen anybody complain.

Probably because you don't see the autocomplete there unless you specifically ask for it. This is a world apart from editors that automatically pop up autocomplete options. Those are an unwelcome distraction.

If Unix shells behaved like that, I'd strenuously object.

[lelanthran]

> Autocompletion doesn't need to be braindead.

I wouldn't go so far as "brain-dead", but it is an annoyance, because I am looking at the screen when I am typing, and the lines below and lines above are context that I can easily retriever without needing to store them in my head.

When the autocomplete window pops up it obscures the context above and below the line I am on, and in turn my context switches instantly from (for example) "Use the results of the previous operation as a parameter to this function" to "what was the name of the variable that I used for 'results' on the previous line? I can no longer see the previous line".

For me, I think, an autocomplete would be best if displayed off to the side, in a consistent spot that never changes. Maybe reserve a small box on the right hand side of the editing window for things that constantly change on every keystroke.

This has the advantage of being able to ignore it, and only switch my gaze (and hence my context) when I actually want to read what it is displaying.