small thoughts... system browser to show super methods & wide debugger

> 2. The debugger lists instance and temporary variables to be inspected, but
> not every object that 'passes through' the method being executed is held in
> a variable.  More often messages are chained together such that to inspect
> the object returned from the middle of this chain you need to select that
> bit of the code and choose to inspect it again.  However there may be
> side-effects of executing that a second time so you are not guaranteed to
> end up looking at the object actually encountered by the execution of the
> method.
>
> What would be interesting would be if in certain circumstances every object
> returned by every message in a method was held to be inspected.

>  This might
> take the form of hovering or right-clicking on any message an choosing
> something like 'inspect context'.   The circumstances this might be turned
> on for could be:
> a. globally
> b. ongoing execution from within debugger
> c. certain methods / classes / categories.
>
> 3. With screens getting much bigger, perhaps the debugger could have an
> option to show code from previous calls back to a certain level.  I have
> attached a mock up [2].  Even though this image shows using a lot of
> vertical space, this would be scrolled.  Ultimately it would be horizontal
> space required as the code steps in, but todays wide screens match this even
> better than those a few years ago. Note the yellow highlighted line in the
> top pane which can position how far back you look.

>
> Just sharing some small thoughts as they cross my mind on the chance the are of any interest. Not necessarily looking for any response or action.
>
> 1. In the System Browser when viewing a method, this might include an expandable list of overridden methods.  Beneath the code of the current method being viewed each 'super' method would be listed with an expandable '+' symbol.  I have attached a mock up [1] showing all expanded but the default might be the collapsed state.
>
> 2. The debugger lists instance and temporary variables to be inspected, but not every object that 'passes through' the method being executed is held in a variable.  More often messages are chained together such that to inspect the object returned from the middle of this chain you need to select that bit of the code and choose to inspect it again.  However there may be side-effects of executing that a second time so you are not guaranteed to end up looking at the object actually encountered by the execution of the method.
> What would be interesting would be if in certain circumstances every object returned by every message in a method was held to be inspected.  This might take the form of hovering or right-clicking on any message an choosing something like 'inspect context'.   The circumstances this might be turned on for could be:
> a. globally
> b. ongoing execution from within debugger
> c. certain methods / classes / categories.
>
> 3. With screens getting much bigger, perhaps the debugger could have an option to show code from previous calls back to a certain level.  I have attached a mock up [2].  Even though this image shows using a lot of vertical space, this would be scrolled.  Ultimately it would be horizontal space required as the code steps in, but todays wide screens match this even better than those a few years ago. Note the yellow highlighted line in the top pane which can position how far back you look.
>

>
> On Mar 5, 2012, at 11:33 AM, Ben Coman wrote:
>
>>
>> Just sharing some small thoughts as they cross my mind on the chance the are of any interest. Not necessarily looking for any response or action.
>>
>> 1. In the System Browser when viewing a method, this might include an expandable list of overridden methods.  Beneath the code of the current method being viewed each 'super' method would be listed with an expandable '+' symbol.  I have attached a mock up [1] showing all expanded but the default might be the collapsed state.
>>
>> 2. The debugger lists instance and temporary variables to be inspected, but not every object that 'passes through' the method being executed is held in a variable.  More often messages are chained together such that to inspect the object returned from the middle of this chain you need to select that bit of the code and choose to inspect it again.  However there may be side-effects of executing that a second time so you are not guaranteed to end up looking at the object actually encountered by the execution of the method.
>> What would be interesting would be if in certain circumstances every object returned by every message in a method was held to be inspected.  This might take the form of hovering or right-clicking on any message an choosing something like 'inspect context'.   The circumstances this might be turned on for could be:
>> a. globally
>> b. ongoing execution from within debugger
>> c. certain methods / classes / categories.
>>
>> 3. With screens getting much bigger, perhaps the debugger could have an option to show code from previous calls back to a certain level.  I have attached a mock up [2].  Even though this image shows using a lot of vertical space, this would be scrolled.  Ultimately it would be horizontal space required as the code steps in, but todays wide screens match this even better than those a few years ago. Note the yellow highlighted line in the top pane which can position how far back you look.
>>
>
> I like the debugger idea! Especially combined with mouse-over infos (show the value if var in a pop-up when the mouse it over it), this should allow for a
> very quick way to understand code...
>
>        Marcus
>
>
> --
> Marcus Denker -- http://marcusdenker.de
>
>