Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by vinceguidry 4660 days ago
I don't understand the hoopla about editors. It takes me eight hours to write a half page of code. That half-page is well-understood, bug-free, and accomplishes the mission. The more I learn, the less I write. I don't want tools to help me write faster. I want tools to help me understand what it is I am writing.
1 comments
aerique 4660 days ago
While I agree with most of your points it does matter to me that I can do the few editing actions I do quickly otherwise it breaks my concentration of focussing on the code.

I also need to be able to navigate the code quickly but that might be part if your "tools to help me understand" remark.

link
vinceguidry 4659 days ago
> I also need to be able to navigate the code quickly but that might be part if your "tools to help me understand" remark.

It often takes me 20-30 minutes to edit a single line of code. Understanding why I need to change the program, what the effects of making that change are, determining which line of the code to edit, figuring out whether I need to edit or refactor, spending time in a REPL to test the proposed changes...

I just use the mouse.

link
aerique 4659 days ago
For me, part of getting that understanding is navigating the code and I do not always have room for another window on my screens.

It seems we have different approaches to working on code, or perhaps we just use different language. The main languages I currently work in are: Common Lisp, Python, JavaScript and C++.

link