Re: Fire defun by typing keyword

[Emanuel Berg]

Kai Großjohann <kai.grossjohann@gmx.net> writes:

>> While I still think this aspect is grossly
>> overlooked, I don't think it is "all about that"
>> anymore. I certainly have the time to write a for
>> loop now and then without my mind beaming away in
>> some other direction, hopelessly lost forever after.
>
> I don't think it's "grossly overlooked".  In Java,
> verbosity is so bad that a lot of tooling has sprung
> up around helping with this kind of thing.  I guess
> every Java "IDE" allows you to add a member to a class
> and then auto-create getter and setter for it.  And
> Eclipse at least has this template for a for loop that
> does just what I suggested.

No, I know there are so called "template facilities"
like yasnippet and the like. But such expansion of
course is only a (possible) part of the whole physical
dimension to programming.

I think it is *very* overlooked. I have read countless
of books on programming telling me the workings of the
for loop, how many bits an integer allocates in memory,
all that stuff.

But I have very seldom read about eyes, fingers (muscle
memory/finger habits), posture, colors, faces, window
positioning, shortcuts (*short* shortcuts: few letters,
and not having to reach, around the "asdf" and "jkl;"
keys), never "looking down", using the US layout, using
the compose key, using Emacs, (not) using the mouse, not
having a blinking cursor, mastering cursor movements,
all that stuff.

Not to mention the *mental* stuff, that is interwoven in
all of that (and get "produced" in turn) in a
complicated way, but also brings its own herbs to the
druid's potion. And then the cycle begins anew (I don't
pretend to understand it but I understand it enough to
know it is there - that it is never mentioned is because
it is *difficult*).

I think that the mental-physical side is a *huge* part
of being productive with the computer, and I am surprised
they don't write about it. In a book on carpentry, they
tell you how to hold the hammer. In a book on boxing,
they tell you how to stand before you punch. But in
books on programming, you get the for loop and
everything else you have to figure out yourself. Not
good!

-- 
Emanuel Berg, programmer-for-rent. CV, projects, etc at uXu
underground experts united:  http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573