[Tutor] [OT] Problem with auto-complete package installation in Atom [Was: Re: After virtualenv, how to use ide]

[David L Neil]

>> apologize in advance!  But that is okay.  I am not a professional nor
>> expert programmer myself.  Because of this, I recall agonizing over
>> the choice of code editor, or, possibly even worse, deciding whether
>> to use an IDE or editor.  This is a difficult decision about which
>> many wax poetic and express their opinions with great emotion.
> 
> But for professional programmers is a mere detail of very
> little import. Its almost as irrelevant as the choice of
> programming language. A professional uses the tools [sh]e
> is given(or dictated). Sure we all have our favourites
> (personally I favour a Unix-like OS using emacs/vim or Netbeans)
> but we use what we must.

+1

The last time I had this conversation, in person, we were working on 
some HTML5 training and a colleague wanted to know how/why I edited 
something. I was using PyCharm, which he'd not seen before, and used a 
facility he had never seen, but which was also a little longer than one 
he would have used in his chosen-tool. Accordingly, he sought to 
'educate' me...

Having used many editors over the years, cough, mumble, decades; I 
suggest choosing one AND sticking with it for a long time, eg one year. 
Maybe as part of your new year celebrations you might choose another. In 
the meantime, I find it takes a while to stop trying to make 'this 
editor' look like the last one; and to learn how to best use the powers 
(and avoid the foibles) of this year's tool to actually improve one's 
productivity..

The fact remains, many of 'the big names' today offer many more 
facilities that one person will ever want to use, especially if working 
exclusively in one language! Perhaps the 80/20 rule applies? eg I've 
been using SublimeText for the last six+ months, and if I've more than 
scratched the surface, I'll be surprised. Even in my 
slightly-expanded-upon-the-vanilla installation, there are still 
lint-ing codes and sundry Python helps that bemuse me (and, obviously, 
I've simply ignored).


> But in my time I've alo used
> - CP/M and ed (or wordstar) {assembler, C, Pascal, Logo}
> - OS/9 and scred, (assembler, C, BASIC}
> - IBM MVS and ISPF, (COBOL, JCL, SQL}
> - Windows and VS (or Borland IDE.) {ASM, VB, Pascal, C++, Java)
> - DEC VAX/VMS and Edit/TPU {C, C++, DCL}

How about MP/M? OS/360 etc before MVS? Extra respect for avoiding the 
PC-DOS/MS-DOS fandango.

I find that the older I become, the longer it takes to re-wind all this 
nostalgia.

I can't even remember the name of the editor I used on my slide-rule PC!


> Sorry for the rant but I get very depressed by some of
> the discussion that happens on programming fora, especially
> when there are so many genuinely interesting things to
> talk about!

Agreed that it tends to be a newcomer's topic; and that one tends to use 
the same tools as the rest of the team; but it is an important 
consideration - I've never forgotten the first time I was asked (um, 
instructed) to change every instance of "xyz" in each source-code file 
in ... whereas today most professional-grade editors will achieve such 
in a single Find-Replace!
(am not sure if that can be achieved with today's Windows-NotePad, but 
equally, I'd struggle to find a good reason for such an action 'today' 
and in Python!)


-- 
Regards =dn