I think this is a fantastic initiative. Thanks, Jeremy! I've only looked at
the program briefly but I like the navigational concepts. I seem to be able
to navigate all over the code despite my having set it to level 2, but maybe
I'm doing something incorrectly. I'll be continuing to mess with this, and
perhaps we can work together to expand the project even further.
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremy Kaldobsky" <[email protected]>
To: "audyssey" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 5:22 PM
Subject: [Audyssey] Blast Buddy
I know this isn't a game, per se, but I was messing around with a little BGT
IDE. The program, affectionately named Blast Buddy, is meant to work a lot
like notepad but have features that will help BGT developers code. I still
have plenty of things I could add, but it's working well enough that I
figured I'd toss this here to get some early feed back. The readme file
explains its features, but since 90% of people won't read it I will paste it
here right after the download link.
http://www.kaldobsky.com/audiogames/Blastbuddy.zip
Added in version 0.2: Undo and Redo features using ctrl+Z and ctrl+Y.
There is a maximum of 10 "undos" so please let me know if you'd like it
allow for more. I've done some testing but I would like to hear from anyone
who spots any bugs with it.
Blast Buddy
-----------
by Aprone, developed with Philip Bennefall's BGT in mind.
The program should operate very similar to windows notepad with only a few
changes meant to help developers. For starters, when you leave a line,
Blast buddy will check it for some common errors. At the moment it only
checks for 2 types, forgetting quotes or forgetting the semi colon at the
end of a line that needs it. In either case, the program will beep and
speak the estimated error to help you catch it before moving on.
Think of your program as existing on a set of tiers or levels. On the
bottom most tier zero, you have your include statements and functions. Your
functions become tier 1 and the lines of code within them are on this tier.
If you have a block IF or loop inside of your function, this would become
tier 2 along with the code inside of it. Nested statements can continue
branching out into higher and higher tiers. One of the most difficult
things about programming can be keeping track of these tiers and knowing
when they end.
Blast buddy has a way to use these tiers to simplify things. Use Alt + Page
up and page down to filter your code based on tiers. When set to "all",
every line of your code appears. When set to tier zero, the normal up and
down arrows would only be seeing your lowest tier code such as include
statements and functions. Moving up to tier 1 would expand that a bit more.
This can be a quick way to overview what you're working on, without needing
to scroll through 40 lines of code nested within an IF block. Sometimes all
you need to read is the line saying "If (age == 18)" and you already know
this is now the place you wish to add more code. I can't say for sure, but
I hope this ability to condense or expand the view will help developers with
speed and also with viewing their project in a more managable way.
Another interesting filter method is the comments setting. Alt + Page down
will lead you to this setting right below "all". When in this mode, the
only lines that will show up are the ones where you have written comments.
If you are someone who comments sections, dropping down to this view could
be the absolute fastest way to shrink your code down into an easy to
understand format. Once you find the spot you're looking for, simply expand
your view and continue working as normal.
This was thrown together pretty quickly so there are some things that
probably won't work quite right, and a few things I still mean to add. You
can't highlight multiple lines for the purpose of copying and pasting. Line
numbers aren't displayed anywhere. You can't use a find or replace feature.
And finally, soft background tones of different pitch will eventually play
as you move up or down in tiers. This will hopefully make it much easier to
visualize where you currently are in the code.
I intend to add support for more types of checks. It would be nice for
Blast buddy to check for case and spelling errors in the BGT key words. It
would also be neat for Blast buddy to track the variables names you use, to
catch you if you spell one incorrectly later on during your coding. I'm not
sure what all will be done with this, but it is fun to brainstorm.
---
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