Wed 23 Apr 2008
Works on my Machine
Posted by Sandra under Code Editors, SlickEdit Products
[6] Comments
I report a problem to a colleague. After trying and failing to use the “works on my machine” excuse, he comes over to see for himself. He asks to drive so he can do a little debugging on my editor, so I step aside to let him use the keyboard. He squints at the code and seems unable to type. Several times he presses an elaborate key combination, only to curse and have to undo whatever he did. Usually, when he tries to undo, he again curses before finally looking at the keyboard to press Ctrl+Z with the concentration of an octogenarian trying to double-click the AOL icon fast enough.
Why is he having so much trouble using my editor? Because I’m using SlickEdit. What does he use? SlickEdit.This scenario happens a lot to me, really anytime a coworker tries to use my machine. Even after he gets used to the color scheme and whatever tool windows I use, if he doesn’t happen to use the same emulation that I use, he’s hosed. He spends more time trying to get somewhere in the code than he does actually making any changes. And no doubt he’s got some custom keybindings on his machine that he uses all the time, but my editor seems to think they have completely different functions.
So the good thing about SlickEdit is that it’s incredibly customizable. You can set it up to do whatever you want, however you want. You can go over, under, around, and through your code using commands and keybindings that you define, and after using them for a couple of days, you’ll feel like you were born using Ctrl+W to comment a line of code. You’ll do all this without thinking about it, because you’re thinking about the code instead of the use of the editor.
Ah, but then you have to use someone else’s configuration. It’s worse if they’re looking over your shoulder, giving you keyboard performance anxiety. You’re all thumbs, two left hands, a DVORAK user in a QWERTY world. Your customizations are your crutches, and you have to limp along to solve a stupid problem when you know it works perfectly on your machine.
In fact, you work perfectly on your machine, too.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:03 am
A slice out of my own life! Except Ctrl+W is for Surround With
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
How dare you call me an octogenarian! I resemble that comment!
April 24th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Maybe you guys should add in a centralized settings repository feature?
April 26th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Just a thought
May be Slickedit would one day allow users to save the settings, color codes, etc… over a webservice, and sync them when ever needed.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:28 am
SlickEdit customization always reminds me of the terminals that the Focused use in Vernor Vinge’s A Deepness in the Sky.
In that book there are brain-altered people that are very intelligent (the Focused)… somewhat like the common concept of an idiot savant or like the mentats from Dune. In Deepness, they are also computer operators, and use highly specialized terminals that allow the computers to keep up with the users.
SlickEdit always reminds me of those terminals.
November 19th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could write a file to a usb that has all your custom settings in it? plug that usb in and slickedit detects the file settings and automatically changes to those settings, unplug it and it reverts? then you could carry around your settings and pop in and out as needed.