RM wrote:
> Sorry, but got caught by this.
>
> "Op 10-May-16 om 14:38 schreef Andrew Ferguson
> andrewferguson500 at ... [HyperCard]:
> >
> > A modernised UI was one of the stated goals of the kickstarter
> > project.
> > This hasn't been started yet, though, and I can't find any mention
> > of it in the LiveCode roadmap.
> >
> > Perhaps when the LiveCode team get round to this, we could
> > contribute?"
>
> I do remember an idea for a sort "all-covering-the-desktop" type UI
> was mentioned during the Kickstarter (in fact I mentioned it 2 or 3
> times subsequently), but:
>
> 1. "modernised": if modernising the UI means making something so one
> cannot get at the desktop while
> one is working, forget it!
>
> 2. If modernising the UI means making the UI look exactly like the UI
> of Visual Basic et al, forget it!
Those are indeed good descriptions of why the IDE remake has taken a
different direction, one more in keeping with the workflow unique to
xTalks like LiveCode.
The preliminary mock-up included with the Kickstarter materials showed a
UI that is indeed more akin to how other tools work, and for that reason
was abandoned.
Other IDEs don't have live windows, so their layout environments are
more or less just simple drawing programs, creating appearances that
don't do anything until you wait through a compile where the "live"
window appears elsewhere.
In LiveCode of course we have a much different way of working: the
window you're adding controls to is the window that's also running your
code live.
As much as it may seem "normal" for other environments to bind their
windows as panes in a fixed drawing environment, I believe LiveCode's
current design, in which the user window is physically separate from the
tools, is by far the better choice for the uncommon workflow that
distinguishes LiveCode's truly live coding.
Apparently the team has recognized this, and as you expressed above I
like to believe we're all glad we get to continue working in an
environment that embraces the "live" nature of xTalk development.
On Andrew's larger question of the IDE revision, as you've noted in your
other post this morning, many members of the HC list don't follow LC
closely.
I replied to Andrew's post there with a note that I'd bring the
usefulness of making sure that item is in on Roadmap to the team's
attention, and indeed Peter Brett's already restored it: "Enhanced &
extensible IDE (Kickstarter)" is in the Recently Released section of the
Road Map.
Mark Schonewille also replied to that thread on the 10th, also noting
that this is the v8 Widget architecture and new IDE APIs.
The Kickstarter IDE goal description was:
We will introduce a new visual editor designed around today’s
usability standards. The editor will be open. The more technical
members of our community can create simplified versions of the
editor for tablets or primary schools.
I've used the new IDE APIs in my devolution plugin, and indeed it's
easier than ever before to completely alter the IDE UI/UX than it's ever
been.
The second part of that description, about building alternate IDEs, I'll
address in reply to your other post this morning. Definitely easier
today than ever before.
> "I can't find any mention of it in the LiveCode roadmap."
The Roadmap is in constant flux, and given the wide range of things we
ask them to do in code to support RAD on seven platforms, it's
understandable that keeping it current may not always be as high a
priority as dealing with Apple's ever-changing OS components or any of
the other development tasks they're focused on.
Still, it is updated from time to time, and had you checked it before
posting here you'd see that Andrew's reminder (though posted on the HC
list where no one on the LiveCode team can be expected to find it) had
already been addressed days ago.
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World Systems
Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
____________________________________________________________________
ambassa...@fourthworld.com http://www.FourthWorld.com
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