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Code Bubbles — Rethinking the IDE's User Interface
kang327 writes "As Java developers we are used to the familiar file-based user interface that is used by all of the major IDEs. A team at Brown University has developed an IDE for Java called Code Bubbles that makes a fairly radical departure from current IDEs — it is based on fragments instead of files. The idea is that you can see many different pieces of code at once. Fragments can form groups, have automatic layout assistance, wrap long lines based on syntax, and exist in a virtual workspace that you can pan. A video shows reading and editing code, opening different kinds of info such as Javadocs, bug reports and notes, annotating and sharing workspaces, and debugging with bubbles. They report on several user studies that show the system increases performance for the tasks studied, and also that professional developers were enthusiastic about using it. There is also a Beta that you can sign up for."
Welcome to the 1970s. Squeak is one of the better implementations these days.
Perhaps we could call such a pieces of code "functions" instead.
isolated, self-contained, easily testable pieces of code
And I'd add small and short to that list. There's no way this bubble concept would be useable with code fragments longer than a few lines, and even those need to be short since wrapping would destroy the usability of the whole thing. Also, in the sample video, when they had to scroll the screen because of the many bubbles, well, there it became a lost cause for me. Realistically, from code dealing with more than helloworlds that I've seen and written, this thing would be a real dealbreaker. I can't think how so much fragmentation can help you in the long run. Having self-contained small pieces of code that do one thing - that is useful -, I'd say those are hard to find. Managing tens of thousands of lines of code this way, I'd go crazy very quickly.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
See the Smalltalk browser:
http://onsmalltalk.com/on-the-smalltalk-browser
Now if only Java had Smalltalk's blocks.
And Smalltalk's more descriptive message passing syntax of "Foo x: 10 y: 20". instead of "new Foo(10, 20);"
And Smalltalk's extendable control syntax...
And Smalltalk's "doesNotUnderstand" concept for proxying.
And Smalltalk's become: method.
And Smalltalk's ability to rethrow exceptions...
And Smalltalk's multi-generational garbage collector...
And so on...
One step at a time...
If only the ParcPlace suits had not been so greedy when Sun wanted to use Smalltalk in set top devices, and instead Sun turned to a Frankenstein "Plan B".
http://fargoagile.com/joomla/content/view/15/26/
"When I became V.P. of Development at ParcPlace-Digitalk in 1996, Bill Lyons (then CEO) told me the same story about Sun and VW. According to Bill, at some point in the early '90's when Adele was still CEO, Sun approached ParcPlace for a license to use VW (probably ObjectWorks at the time) in some set top box project they were working on. Sun wanted to use a commercially viable OO language with a proven track record. At the time ParcPlace was licensing Smalltalk for >$100 a copy. Given the volume that Sun was quoting, PP gave Sun a firm quote on the order of $100/copy. Sun was willing to pay at most $9-10/copy for the Smalltalk licenses. Sun was not willing to go higher and PP was unwilling to go lower, so nothing ever happened and Sun went its own way with its own internally developed language (Oak...Java). The initial development of Oak might well have predated the discussions between Sun and PP, but it was PP's unwillingness to go lower on the price of Smalltalk that gave Oak its green light within Sun (according to Bill anyway). Bill went on to lament that had PP played its cards right, Smalltalk would have been the language used by Sun and the language that would have ruled the Internet. Obviously, you can take that with a grain of salt. I don't know if Bill's story to me was true (he certainly seemed to think it was), but it might be confirmable by Adele. If it is true, it is merely another sad story of what might have been and how close Smalltalk might have come to universal acceptance."
How much people forget...
Of course, fifteen years later, Java is not that bad... Most of the bugs are out. There are some good libraries. There is a better garbage collector... And so on...
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Wanted:
Java developer with 40 years experience in Code Bubbling concepts.
5 years experience with the Code Bubble IDE.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Beware the IDEs of March
I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.