On to the next tool
I tried running Eclipse again this morning - I had previously added the JDK I installed so that I could browse Java sources - now it crashes on startup. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong here, but it's more trouble than it's worth. I downloaded IntelliJ to take a look at that.
First off, they have an actual installer - and when you get it installed, and create a package, it asks you which JDK you want to use. Right off, this was better than Eclipse - it worked. So anyway, I added a new project to work on, and it went ahead and indexed the JDK for me, so that browsing would be possible. That's where I hit a point I'm not following.
There are a bunch of ancillary Java libraries with sources (network, security, plugin, etc) - but the runtime - rt.jar - shows up as an unbrowseable thing. Again, I'm sure I'm missing something here, but I have no idea how to just browse the base Java libraries.
Ok, just to get a feel for the tool I go down the tree to a package that has source - ldapsec.jar. I open the tree to StartTlsResponseImpl, and select it. Nothing. Ok, I have to double click to get source. Why that is, I have no idea - seems like a bad idea to me on the usability front.
Well, on to the project I created. I select my project - and have a "what now?" moment. Yes, I know that people downloading CST NC have the same issue, which is why we have the WalkThru document. So, off to the help, and it tells me what to do - I create a new file in the project (analogous to creating a new class in a CST package, mostly). Now, a fair bit of my problem here is my burned in expectations as a Smalltalker - I really don't think about source files, and I know that this is not a problem for most developers - so this is an issue on my end, not the tool's. I do notice that there are a bunch of XML files already associated with my project - gosh knows what those are, but I'll leave those alone. So I created a simple program:
class HelloWorldApp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello World!"); //Display the string.
}
}
Hit "Build", and got a compiler error. Hmm. I suppose it's significant that the tool tells me that it can't resolve "String" - likely means I've got some configuration thing wrong. I have no idea what that might be though, so I can't really get into any of IntelliJ's refactoring - I have to figure out how to get it properly set up first.
Comments
Browsing in Java
[Troy Brumley] December 21, 2005 10:00:07.956
I never found a tool that would browse them on the PC, but there's a good browser on the Mac in the standard developers tools. Well, not as good as Smalltalk's browser, but better than a weighty API reference.
For good help and API reference, I'm torn between REALbasic's language help and the Visual Studio .NET 2003 environment, which is pretty flexible and very complete. I'll show you next time you're in Cincinnati if you want.
WSAD?
[] December 21, 2005 11:48:19.427
James - You may want to look into whether or not IBM has a free download for Websphere Application Developer (WSAD). It's their re-branded and extended Eclipse. It has an installer and thereforem may actually allow you to use the product.
[] December 21, 2005 12:22:31.807
Double-clicking is not a usability problem: IntelliJ is designed to be used from the keyboard. Every feature is available from a key-combination. The mouse and menus are useful as a learning tool but every time you use the mouse to find a feature, don't click but use the keys displayed on the menu instead. It's the quickest way to learn how to use the tool. IntelliJ is *very* user friendly but requires some investment from the user -- it's more user friendly than beginner friendly. If you want to browse the JDK source you need to tell IntelliJ where the source for the JDK is in the JDK configuration dialog. The source is in a file called src.jar in the root directory of the JDK. Don't look at the source too much -- a lot of it is shockingly bad.
[] December 21, 2005 13:47:53.146
You've now tried two IDEs that complain about your Java environment, yet you are blaming the IDEs. Hmmm..
When using software, it's helpful to uninstall previous versions and download the latest versions. This is just common sense that you'd think every developer would understand.
It says more about you than the tools when there are plenty of people out there that didn't have any problems and are using them just fine.
Installed the latest version
[ James Robertson] December 21, 2005 14:12:45.287
Comment by James Robertson
I have the latest 1.5 installed. Apparently, round one of the install was corrupt. Go figure
Unfair comparision
[ppavel] December 21, 2005 14:38:29.865
I'm trying not to be offensive, but... I'm using Smalltalk for more then five years now. Dolphin and now VW. And I worked for JetBrains on the IDEA for a very short period and used it a lot. I have to say you're unfair to the product. I often see this behavior in developers not inclined to learn the tool. They found all and every problem in it, "look, it crashes! it does not work! they didn't even provide keyboard shortcut! i was unable to find the menu item!" - the list goes endless. If you treat VisualWorks this way you will come to the conclusion that it is just unusable and does not work very soon. IDEA is extremely slick, GUI is well thought, keyboard shortcuts are good and consistent (Ctrl-O in PDP debugger, anyone?). It does not have contraintuitive behavior VW has (list selection, drag-n-drop etc etc etc). Refactoring UI is _modern_, not awful small modal dialogs VW has. In terms of GUI implementation it is light years ahead. My opinion: when compared in terms of IDE Idea beats VisualWorks every time. Yes, I prefer Smalltalk for virtually any job, but this is the matter of language and environment _not_ the IDE. And VW has nothing to be extremely proud of in this area. I love Smalltalk and i'm afraid that position of person in your role can cause much harm to the perception the product gets in the eyes of newcomers. Just imagine the developer jumping from Idea to VisualWorks, already confused by dated and unfamiliar UI and the whole new paradigm of developing and reading your comments. Sorry, Jim, i think you were unfair.
[] December 22, 2005 5:19:53.004
This short (1 min) screencast covers all the basics you'll need to get started using IntelliJ IDEA. http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/training/demos/rob/helloidea.html