Programmers love their tools. It’s now been a good month that we’ve migrated to Subversion, and even though we know that FDT3 and Subversion aren’t great pals – endless configuration issues apparently, it didn’t prevent our team from ordering a fair batch of licenses at a fair price (not all Eclipse plugins are free).
I didn’t request a license. Instead, I ported my ergonomics to plain text programming. Programmers love their tools, and I’m no exception. Surely I love my tools. I created my tools so I could continue to love (what was to become) my job.
Anyway, today I sent an email to a few colleagues to let them know about my new code editor, ee-ide. Then, feeling ill inspired, I came over at a pal’s desk in the evening and did a quick demonstration.
Oh my… I directed him towards the web page for antegram for web. I chose this one because it downloads sample code, a quick overview of how it works and even runs from inside a zip file (at least, on Windows).
This is how it went.
X: (chmods the jar file) Mhmff. I never run jar files. (double clicks on the jar file, which an archive manager promptly deflates). Mhmff…
Me: OK, do java -jar …
X: Mhmff (UI pops up, and instantly populates with sample files and quick-start info in a corner; then, 3 double clicks later) I don’t know how this works.
Me: It’s OK, just check the quick start info.
X: If I need to read the doc, it’s probably no good anyway.
Me: OK, I’ll show you.
X: Ahh… (Glossing over what looks like a standard project browser) Yea. I got the same thing here. I don’t use it.
Me: Sure. The one in your IDE is too small. It’s not usable.
X: What d’ya mean too small? Yours the same size.
Me: This IDE uses several, not just one. You see the packages, classes and members first, and edit the code in a popup window. That way you always keep in touch with your design and access the code in one click.
X: I use nano when I just need to do a quick change…
Me: Say you want to design 300 classes. Do you use UML?
X: I keep the design in my head. I got the design in my head and the code on the screen. It’s zero clicks. Zero clicks is faster.
Me: Well, I guess that’s my problem. There is nothing in my head.
X: Everybody has a different approach.
Sure. I had smoother presentations. For one thing, ‘keeping in touch with the design’ (and relying less on UML diagrams) was the way somebody described one of the first versions of Antegram, nearly 7 years ago.
As a professional user, I’m forever frustrated with the way companies recycle the same recipes over and over, refuse to innovate and refuse to explore potential improvements in workflow and productivity.
What I never want to admit is:
- 40% of professional users are disturbed when facing a look and feel different from what they are used to.
- 90% of professional users are disturbed when facing innovative ergonomics. Innovative ergonomics are perforce different, thus definitionally inferior to what already exists.
Overall, this is also why ee-ide, instead of offering an integrated, well-studied and (considered targetted applications) fairly optimal solution, is a prequel to Antegram – a bridge between established ergonomics and practices and futuristic stuff that (as far as I know) only perfect beginners ever acknowledged.
I’m still working hard to bring onboard features invented elsewhere – even though most of that stuff contributes little to the net sum in terms of ease of use and productivity.
OK. I’d like to stay and expand on this, but I need to disable the java look and feel in ee-ide. It will look horrible on WinXP, but that is what XP developers want.
I’m not giving up.
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