[hidden email] escribió:
> What I would like to see in Dolphin is the following:
>
> 1) Auto completion (intellisense) while coding in the IDE similar to
> Visual Studio.
> 2) Namespaces and real private methods.
> 3) .NET libraries interface
> 4) Source saved as XML would be nice.
> 5) Simpler way to make forms. Form class?
> 6) Minor language enhancements E.g. built in case.
>
> The first one is critical because it makes life easy when coding given
> the thousands of classes and messages and the typing, but I can see its
> a difficult one to implement without data types. When VB programmers
> complain about ease of use this is what they mean. They are spoiled by
> intellisense and this capability alone would expand the user base.
What's the advantage of fast typing?
Smalltalk is not a language, and the speed of your type doesn't care
a lot, when you work in an ambiance like smalltalk, the time you
spend reading is many times greater than the time you use writing.
That slowness may help you to think.
The thousands of classes may be confusing at first, but as you work
you'll find yourself using just few. Think in the smalltalk "running
image" as an ambiance, where everything is there. As you doesn't use
all the gadgets you have in your kitchen, and allways end using the
same old knife, you don't have to use, and focus, on everything.
You can apply reduction as you move your focus, but you must see the
whole in a more holistic approach.
VB is a language, Smalltalk no, it just has a syntax. The "learning
curve" is different, but not _that_ different.
> I like Dolphin but I can't use it seriously at this point because of #1
> and #2. Either way I will upgrade when it's out just because it's fun
> to experiment with.
I would like namespaces, but in my short experience, never had a
name clash between classes, even with the well know "Person" class
(which may be present in almost every image).
I use VAST which has a lot, really, a lot of classes, pools, and so
on, and it works fine. VW hadn't namespaces until later versions,
and before that, big and well built systems were developed.
What's not there, in the major cases, can be built.
The main difference between the smalltalk "culture" and the rest, is
that when you build it, you "own" it, and can use it until you
consider appropiate. When someone does it for you, it will be there
until that someone decides the opposite. It's "bread for today,
hungry for tomorrow"*.
The smalltalk is yours, and with time, you'll end understanding what
I say about "yours", I mean the true meaning of ownership and
modification.
And one more methaphor, the last, I swear, think it as a house, when
you buy a house, with furniture, etc... you can use as it comes, but
your, and also mine, nature is to modify it until you feel
comfortable, even with small changes. If you live more than 5 years,
will end having a very different house, not in its basement, but yes
in the "living experience".
Best regards.
Locked
