IDE features

Zuurbier, E. - AMSXE Erik.Zuurbier@KLM.NL
Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:59:39 +0100


Someone once characterized programming as a long alternation of two steps:
1) Program some new functionality, and some more. Test and adapt until it
works.
2) Tidy everything up: change some function names, move stuff to a different
module,
change a module name, interchange parameters of a function, etc.
Repeat these steps until the project is finished.

The problem with step 2 in Clean is that there is hardly any support. If you
move
a function to a different module, the compiler gives you a load of errors
(also later
in other projects), instead of the IDE trying to performing all the
necessary changes,
such as changing import statements and project paths where necessary. If you
change
:: MyType :== (X,Y)
into
:: MyType = {x :: Y, y :: Y}
you have to do many manual updates in the program text before the compiler
is satisfied. 

I think this poor support (not only in Clean) could be the reason why much
software
is badly structured and not self documenting. I would like much more support
for step 2.
Some aspects could be covered by improved language design, many others by
adding
features to the IDE.

Erik Zuurbier