Hi all,
Today we have integrated (finally!) the first version of our Spec2
based NewTools.
While this is a fairly long process that will lead to all tools in
Pharo to be written with the same framework and following the same
design guidelines, we started with the easiest one (the playground) and
one of the most complex (the debugger) to start fleshing out what we
want to achieve.
Next weeks we will release the new inspector, which for now resides
only inside the new debugger and it is just a proof of concept for the
moment.
In general, for any tool to be a fair replacement to some other tool,
it needs to fulfill this two criteria:
it needs to solve all the problems the previous tool solved, and
it needs to solve problems the previous tool did not.
What do you have to expect from the integrated new tools?
The new debugger:
Allows /object centric debugging./
Enhances extensibility, making adding plugins a lot easier than before.
Enables /scripting/.
The new playground
Enables /sharing variables/between playgrounds
Enhances visibility of binding variables by embedding an inspector
Enhances visibility of saved pages
Both tools should cover already most of the functionality the older
tools but there are still some missing features and for sure a good
amount of bugs you will find it and we will gladly fix :)
Do you want to know more?
Object centric debugging tutorial:
<https://thepharo.dev/2020/07/16/object-centric-breakpoints-a-tutorial/>
Sindarin scripting API: <https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02280915>
Playground help file:
<https://github.com/pharo-spec/NewTools/blob/master/docs/playground.md>
Enjoy!
Esteban
