PlasMate ~ UI and other stuff

[Chani]

> 
> I thought, once I get the syntax down, programming would become a much
> more structured process and I would sit down for at least a couple of
> minutes and just write some code. Not letting myself be distracted by
> my little program.
> 
> I hoped with the preview out of the way, "better" programming would be
> encouraged and people could focus on their code better. But when even
> pros like yourself work this way, I perhaps need to rethink this
> aspect of the design.

hehehe :) no, I think we all work like that. why store everything in your own 
memory when the computer can help you with it?
of course, when you know a language well, you do sometimes sit down and write 
a big chunk of code - but that probably means you're doing something boring. 
boring sucks. so we tend to find harder problems that stretch our minds, and 
then we're back to needing the computer's help to keep track of it all :)

besides, plasmate's target audience is not highly-experienced programmers. 
it's the big crowd of people who want to make a shiny widget and don't want to 
spend forever learning about how to do so. they'll spend a lot of time going 
"hmm, I wonder if I can get away with this? no, okay, let's try that way 
then..."

> 
> Of course, I still maintain, that a separation would make for a much
> cleaner interface. Also looking at your latest screencast (I assume
> you demonstrate the very plasmoid you mentioned in your email there)
> it seems that with my design proposal you could actually bounce a
> little quicker between your code and your plasmoid.
> 
> You seem to hit "ctrl+s" to save the code, then right mouse button for
> the context menu, then reload javascript animation to test it. In my
> design you only hit one keyboard shortcut ("ctrl+tab" or "ctrl+2").
> Your code will automatically be saved, your plasmoid reloaded and the
> tab containing it will be moved under the very spot your eyes are
> right now. (this of course assumes, that tab switching will be as fast
> as tab switching usually is; if plasmate does it much slower, my whole
> design idea is moot.)
> 
> This works so seemingly effortlessly because the user tells plasmate,
> what he actually wants to achieve: "I want to test now". This can be
> communicated in a single command ("ctrl+2") and plasmate can do the
> rest, like saving, reloading and whatever else may be appropriate. In
> a regular interface you could, hypothetically, hit the right mouse
> button to reload the animations, but forget to save the document first
> and your computer could not help you, because it does not know, what
> you want to do. Sure plasmate aims to be much better in this regard
> than kwrite is, but it still lacks the humane characteristics
> described above.
> 

hmm. there's nothing saying you can't add a keyboard shortcut (and toolbar 
button?) for "save and reload". then it'd be just as fast.

having things visible at the same time is, in some way, fundamentally different 
from being able to flip between them easily. I think that when there's no 
flipping at all required to see the "real" thing you're building with your 
code, it's really helpful for reminding you of what you're doing and where 
you're going and what still needs to get done.

in the end, I think that whether to have the preview be there at the same time 
or in another tab/window/whatever depends on the formfactor and the user's 
preference, but the vast majority of the time they should be displayed 
together.

-- 
This message brought to you by eevil bananas and the number 3.
www.chani3.com
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 198 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part.
Url : http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/plasma-devel/attachments/20091024/b895fa31/attachment.sig