Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

Post by Shorn » Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 2:26 AM UTC

ekzy wrote: post #323

scanr wrote: post #26

The Jetbrains suite. Lightens the cognitive load, makes it easier to refactor and keep code tidy. All of which allow me build better software. For almost everything else e.g. git, learning how to use the command line instead of a UI is the best way for me to learn how the tooling works.

I agree. I’ve been using IntelliJ ultimate for a few months now and I don’t see myself going back to sublime or emacs. I do work mostly with ruby, typescript, golang and occasionally clojure. I recently found out that with the Ultimate version, you can install all the language plugins and won’t need the other IDE like Goland, rubymine, webstorm etc... They’re just plugins. So all your settings can live in one place

Post by vivekkalyan » Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 2:51 AM UTC

mxschumacher wrote: post #293

caseymarquis wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I upvoted the parent and want to emphasize vim key bindings. This is not necessarily vim the editor, it's your editor of choice in vim mode. Learning to use vim is like learning to touch type: it's initially a pain, but it's hard to ever go back once you've mastered the basics. If you haven't learned to touch type (it happens, I didn't learn until I was 22), then first learn that, then learn vim. FYI: Remap your caps…

I recently had a revelation: When typing longer shell commands it can be time-consuming to go back and make changes, turns out you can use Vim style cursor movements within the Fish: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28444740/how-to-use-vi-m...

  autoload -z edit-command-line
  zle -N edit-command-line
  bindkey "^X^E" edit-command-line

Post by esperent » Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 3:01 AM UTC

gitgud wrote: post #332

the_pwner224 wrote: post #270

TabNine: https://www.tabnine.com/blog/deep (the code are GIFs which I had to click to play) This thing is fucking magic. It's ML autocomplete, with help from 'traditional' autocomplete methods that use static analysis. Instead of just completing one token at a time like traditional completers, it can do entire sentences or multiple lines of code in one go, and is freakishly accurate. And since it parses language it h…

I love TabNine but had to stop using it because each instance can use 3GB of memory... Way too much for an autocomplete extension https://github.com/codota/TabNine/issues/43

Post by dragonwriter » Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 3:13 AM UTC

bitwize wrote: post #390

p4l4g4 wrote: post #93

- Solid editor: I've used a few editors and IDEs in the past. I think a learning to use a programmable editor is a better investment than learning to work with an IDE. IDEs are generally single purpose: working very good for a limited selection of languages, platforms, etc. Having a good editor at your disposal allows you to manipulate any text oriented (and sometimes binary) format. When your editor is programmable…

Tcl/Tk is still the fastest way to get from zero to functional GUI that I've ever seen. I wish I could say there was something of similar ease in Lisp, but alas there isn't -- not in the current ecosystem of Unix workalikes running on generic CISC/RISC hardware. Maybe the Lisp Machines had something.

Post by ChanderG » Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 3:18 AM UTC

elt0r0 wrote: post #105

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #15

Shell, awk, sed and textutils. They teach that programming is everywhere. I have trouble understanding professional challenges of people that never had a chance to learn those. Like accountants struggling to merge tables or proposal writers painfully tuning document layouts.

Any recommendations for resources on learning more about these commands?