glamorous toolkit - moldable method coder

We design the Glamorous Toolkit to enable moldable development. This is a new take on programming that is predicated on the idea that tools must adapt to the context of the software system in order to be effective.

Until now, we mainly applied moldability to how we inspect/debug/search existing code and objects. The first incarnation of GT, the tools that are present in the Pharo distribution, already showed how moldable development can provide dramatic productivity gains, especially when combined with examples.

To make the experience complete, more recently we started to build moldability into Coder, the new set of tools for creating code. 

The first tool we created is Method Coder, an editor for a single method. This is a working editor that has multiple new features, one of which being that it can be collapsed to only see the method pattern (header), and that the body is editable without affecting the method pattern. This editor is versatile and can be used in various places, such as class coder or a search:

Yesterday, we reached a new milestone. In the example below we see how adding/removing <gtExample> to a method changes the shape of the method Coder dynamically without requiring a save. In our case, the changes affect: the example status label, the in-place example expanding toggle, and the run button.

This just an example that is specific to the examples engine, but it shows how typing can be linked live to all details that make the surrounding tool.

Of course, the mechanism behind the scene is available for you to adapt the editor to your code.

This is a whole new uncharted world, and we think there is a great deal of potential in this area.

Have fun,

The feenk team