Bob,
Glad you are grooving on tRev.
tRev has definitely changed the way I personally develop apps, mentor
and work on projects for people. But the area where I've seen the most
change in my own habits is in the debugging arena.
I used to debug in GLX2's and Rev's modal debugger a lot. I was quite
dependent upon it. In fact, I think I was using it as part of my
coding environment. My code got sloppier—I figured, "Hey, I'll catch
any problems in the debugger." Time spent coding was, well
surprisingly lengthy. It would wear me out. I didn't realize it at the
time, but in retrospect, that's what I think was happening.
I'd have to say that using tRev has changed my coding habits in general.
1. I spend much less time coding.
2. I spend about 80 to 90% less time debugging now as well.
Why is that?
I was somewhat mystified by this discovery, myself. Here's what I
think has happened: my mind started working differently when I started
using tRev. I really organize my code in the folders it provides in
the handler lists, especially since I can drag and drop handlers
wherever I like in the handler list's folders. I can actually find my
handlers—even from older projects. The scratch pad containing links of
frequently-worked handlers helps me find the handlers I'm working on,
as do the links to handlers peppered through out my code, thanks to
tRev.
The biggest thing I discovered about coding in RevTalk and xTalk is
this: it's about the handlers.
How you get to them, how you organize them. The stats function in tRev
even tells me my average handler size in a script. If the lines per
handler is getting too big in a script, then I know I'm asking for
rough sledding and wasting time. Coding in tRev is ALL about the
handlers. When I realized this, I slapped my forehead and said: "It's
the handlers, stupid!"
tRev has puts me in a better frame of mind: simple order.
That's how I'd describe it. tRev has really made it easier and
encouraged me by its example (you could say). It's easier to follow my
own simple coding standards (naming vars with good names, not using
nested functions, indexing repeats with var names, not "x", etc.). And
the autocomplete feature really cut down on typos.
So, firstly, my need to debug is less, because my code was getting
better. Then, when I did debug in tRev (we call it "decoding"), one
glance at the decoder and errors seemed to jump out at me. Most of the
time I don't even step through the breakpoints.
That said, our decoder (a modeless debugger that appears after a
script has run with an historical record stored in a database of
breakpoints) still has some features coming. We are working on better
support for multi-dimensional arrays and fixing some display
anomalies. We're also adding support for breakpoints in repeat loops
that let you walk through the iterations of variable content in a loop—
after the code has run, of course.
The biggest advantage of the debugger: its design/architecture keeps
it completely out of Rev's way. It cannot really crash Rev or tRev.
It's like a good doctor that "does no harm."
People using tRev are challenged by the decoder because it is a
completely different model. There is no debugger like it. But once you
get to using it, and let it work on your head, you'll find some real
rewards.
I am a very productive 61 year old coder and developer. You see here
on this list just how often I update tRev with new features. I also do
a significant amount of mentoring and project work for others. I also
have a life with my family, community and friends outside of the
technical world.
But since using tRev, I spend less time coding/developing and much
more time enjoying it, blogging about it. tRev seems to give me a
certain clarity of mind that GLX2, Galaxy, Constellation and Rev
script editors did not.
Again, glad you're enjoying the product. It's encouraging to hear.
Best,
Jerry Daniels
The latest Rev Editor Video:
http://reveditor.com/need-to-move-controls-in-card-snaps-zoom
On Feb 12, 2010, at 5:15 PM, Bob Sneidar wrote:
Yes I feel myself being inexorably drawn into the world of tRev. I
think when the script editor from GLX2 is reintroduced, (I forget
who is working on that) I will use tRev exclusively. tRev's editor
is awesome in lots of ways, but there are still times I have to have
a step debugger, so the combination of tRev and the ability to
switch to another debugger on the fly is like the perfect world.
Bob
On Feb 12, 2010, at 12:11 PM, Mark Swindell wrote:
I have to second David's comments. TRev is coming together nicely,
a piece at a time. The new fixed Browser tab is a welcome
improvement over the previous "Tab" implementation. It's hard for
me to use the built-in Rev editor at this point, and I'm relying
less and less on the Application Browser.
Mark
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