On 02/02/2011 04:58 PM, Robert wrote:
It was suggested in another Python newsgroup that IDLE has flaws. Yes, I
know, hard to believe that software has flaws, however, out of that was
born a desire to clean up the code cruft etc. in IDLE.
As a long time IDLE user, I don't think that the issue is that IDLE has
flaws. What is missing is a group of people that use it everyday who
have a vision about making it better than it currently is.
Two things that came out generally were:
* Update the UI (use ttk widgets etc.)
* More tests and automate testing
* Clean up the code
What else would you like to see? I was said that Python (and IDLE) are
going to Mercurial at some point, so maybe that would be a good time to
start the effort.
It will be a bit for me. I have some learning to do before I try and
tackle this. I think it would be a good way for me to continue to learn
about Python, unit testing, UI design and code refactoring.
So chime in with your suggestions!
I've stopped using IDLE, so I don't know if some of these issues have
been addressed in the latest versions, but here are some things that
were issues:
* needs a stable interface for plugins (it seemed like each version
changed slightly and our extensions kept breaking)
* more hooks for plugins
* needed a way to run the code in editor window without restarting the
shell (some code has start-up code that should not have to be re-run
each time you want to load the program)
* control+p and alt+p (print and previous) were too similar and I kept
printing the entire history
* allow one to select a printer before printing
* ability to clear the shell window
* allow IDLE to startup with either shell or editor
* Don't show the weird, scary message about Personal Firewall
subprocessing and loopbacks. That is not a good way to introduce people
to computing!
* Allow more than one idle to be run at same time
* command-line history persistent between sessions
* some weird cursor positions in shell. home should take you to a place
after prompt, not before.
* cutting and pasting from shell to window could remove the >>> prompts
* menu items not intuitive for beginners
* more options with a context-sensitive right-mouse-click
IDLE is very nice, but it could be developed into a finally-tuned product.
Good luck!
-Doug
Thought: Should this just be an effort for IDLE in P3 going forward so
that focus can be had?
--
Douglas S. Blank
Associate Professor, Computer Science, Bryn Mawr College
http://cs.brynmawr.edu/~dblank (610)526-6501
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