DEV Community

Discussion on: Why do I hate external things in programming?

Collapse
 
athomsfere profile image
Austin French

I think I can only barely grasp it then. Some stacks, I hate the tools more than others.

Java for example. Most of the IDEs are terrible. They are slow to respond to my desires.
MySQL, same issue with most of the IDEs.

But, at the same time the simplicity of the things doing and organizing my work is worth it.

I do love Visual Studio though. And I'm starting to like MySQL Workbench.

What I actually hate, is when my workflow requires changing input methods:

type type type type, move to mouse, click, new window, type, click, close window, click text field, type type type.

Thread Thread
 
baenencalin profile image
Calin Baenen

It's definitely a weird workflow, but I hate IDEs for a stupid reason.

They are just too overwhelming, they are loaded with features (which is good), but they don't make it look ready to anyone coming from something like VSCode (which I like for its "open file, type, save program, ?test-run program", and the way it doesn't try to take too much control.
What I mean by that last point, is that it doesn't insist on anything. For comparison, when I wrote doccomments in Java, IntelliJ forced me to have the space indent (and if that could be turned off, they hid it from dumbasses like me super well), in VSCode, it doesn't. This personally is a big point for me, because only the ones after the first line have an indent, and its misalignment triggers me.
I'm sure you can imagine quite a few other "insistive" problems.

What do you think of my reasoning? Is it stupid? Am I making a fuss out of IDEs being better than the "advanced text-editor" that VSCode is?
Or is this (at least kinda) a legit reason to be upset towards tools?

Thread Thread
 
athomsfere profile image
Austin French • Edited

Not sure what you mean exactly, but I think I have some idea:

  public static bool IsValid(this Entity entity)
  {
       // force tab indent to here
       if (entity.IsActive && 
               entity.Expires.Date <= Datetime.Now().Date)
       {
           return true;
       }
       else
       {
           return false
       }
  }
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

In which case, if you aren't used to working on teams, I can get the frustration. I assume you don't like that whitespace format? But above that is the "correct" format for C# according to MS, expect I used spaces instead of tabs.

Consistency across teams (I currently have peers around the globe) being able to scan code quickly, and not mess with a dozen styles is actually critical. So for me, an IDE that does well with something like StyleCop, linters, Resharper etc. is a very nice to have.

Especially for Jr. developers: "Here's the MS recommended style, here are our exceptions".

I always try to keep the list short, because no one wants to miss a sprint because someone kept flagging " needs work" for minor style issues.

Thread Thread
 
baenencalin profile image
Calin Baenen

Well, things like this are annoying, too.

/*
 * This is triggering me, and I can't change this (as far as I'm aware).
 *
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
Thread Thread
 
athomsfere profile image
Austin French

Comments, in general? Or comments similar to that?

I'm of the camp: Comments should explain what your code can't.

    /// 3rd party library has a "bug" which requires this format
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

If you mean: Using that style of commenting for a single line of comments, then:

1) Almost every style guide I've seen would call that a bad practice. It should be fixed
2) In compiled languages, at least it has no impact as generally the compiler will drop comments.

Thread Thread
 
baenencalin profile image
Calin Baenen

No, I meant w/ doc-comments, it forces me to have a space on all (comment) lines below the start, yet doesn't align the top (starting) line.

Refer to what I sent in the code block to resolve any questions, and ask you're still confused.