[ruby-talk:6138] Thoughts on a Ruby browser

I have to issue a disclaimer first, that I am not a code browser user,
except in things like C++ Builder, JBuilder, etc.

I've never even seen a Smalltalk browser, though I have heard rumors
that it is an awe-inspiring tool. I don't even know Smalltalk.

Despite my ignorance, I will offer some opinions.

1. Yes, we do have to have SOME kind of interface. But let's keep it
as independent from the core functionality as we can.

2. I do favor the possibility of a web-based browser. In fact, I
wouldn't mind if it was *truly* web-based, i.e., you could look at
code running on a remote machine as long as it had an embedded web
server.

3. I do also favor the possibilty of a "native" GUI, whether your
desktop of choice is Win32 or Linux KDE. In a case like this, I
would prefer an MDI interface, as nonmodal as possible.

4. I'm not an emacs weenie, but numerous people I respect are. I
favor a way to hook the browser into emacs (and whatever other
editors are powerful enough).

5. No matter the interface, I am a big believer in "collapse and
hide" features. For example, when looking at code, I would like to
be able to hide the embedded docs. I would like only a very shy,
unobtrusive hint that the docs are even there. Yet on the other
hand, I would like a feature that says, "Collect ALL the embedded
docs and show them to me."

6. Same with the code. I'd like to get a super-high-level view and
drill down to the lowest detail with ease. Maybe even offer the
opportunity to restructure the code by dragging/dropping icons
representing methods or whatever.

7. I want the browser to remember every detail of the state I was
in at the end of my last session.

8. Possibly allow changing of syntax to equivalent forms by a simple
keystroke combination or button click. (Hmm, I'll change that for-loop
to a .each, and I'll change these braces to a do-end...) Does anyone
remember the Alice Pascal compiler from long ago (1985)? In some ways
it was very neat... it had a syntax-directed editor that made it nearly
impossible to make a syntax error, and easy to make changes of the
sort I just mentioned. Unfortunately, it also made it rather difficult
to type in even a correct program...

9. I favor a flexible and customizable interface. Let me create my own
macros (in Ruby, of course), assign icons to them, and add them to the
toolbar.

10. I'd like the capability to click on a standard identifier and get
documentation on it -- different levels of documentation, beginning
with just, for example, the "prototype" of a method. I'd like to click
on the user-defined stuff and get information about it -- where is it
first defined, where is it used, etc.

11. I wish (though this is not possible in Ruby as it is) that we could
associate a comment specifically with the piece of code it belongs
with. I have often thought that perhaps program text should advance to
the point that it was more like a word-processing document, with a
browser-like tool required in order to use it... that is a break with
tradition, and millions would disagree with me, though.

Just a few thoughts.

Hal


--
Hal Fulton


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