The Geminispace debate about IDEs rages on! Well, there were three more posts.
I think thrig
almost succeeded in closing the topic by using a Babylon 5 clip to describe what using an IDE often feels like:
But then I got to thinking about that greatest DVD release of all time, and remembered:
Understanding is a three edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth.
Editors and IDEs are sometimes portrayed as two sides but you don’t have to choose one.
I know exactly the third side that I’m for: fun, and freedom to have fun.
For me, coding—and this goes for hobbyist coding as well as the various jobs I’ve had—is about the fun.
I happen to believe that arranging for everyone to have fun writing code is how you get good software to happen, at any scale. This is because being productive, being in tune with the tools, being in a position to directly transmute thoughts and ideas into code ... is fun. And anything that gets in your way, whether a problematic tool or more commonly some Gordian Knot of code of your own devising, makes it less fun.
So if you’ve found fun in coding, great! That’s how it should be.
It happens that the most fun I have coding these days is in Dart with one particular IDE; but I’m not wedded to either.
And, I’m always happy to read about the often-different things that you all enjoy. Thanks also to siiky and textmonger for their thoughts on the topic.
So far today, 2023-09-28, feedback has been received 24 times. Of these, 20 were likely from bots, and 4 might have been from real people. Thank you, maybe-real people!
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