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Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

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Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#151

Post by slightwinder »

btown wrote: post #64
belowm wrote: post #62

Why can't this be an extension? I love the idea and can perfectly imagine this inside a tab of the editor area. This would allow for multiple haystack tabs as well, so switching contexts would be seven easier. Having to install another IDE (even if it is based on vscode) is a bit of a bummer for me. None the less, keep it up!

VS Code extensions are pretty limited - you can override the renderer for an editor tab, but if you want multiple things within a custom interface to be treated as first-class editor tabs by the larger environment (and by the larger extension ecosystem), that's not really possible. Forks are a reasonable step as long as they don't fall behind!

Do you really need a first-class-editor for working directly from the canvas? Wouldn't it be enough to use the canvas just for navigation and show a rendered picture of the code, but open a separate editor (maybe side by side?) for the real work?

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#153

Post by nisten »

looking at the package.json infestation of this thing makes me want to just go plain vim WITHOUT any plugins.

Ok, what's that , you want AI sir, guess what b:tch, you can :split out a :terminal window and run a llama-cli conversation right inside vim too. Ctrl + w N and you even get line numbers from whatever contraption of code you got out of that 7b coder model.

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#154

Post by igouy »

atomicnature wrote: post #138

Reminds me a bit of the old smalltalk GUI. It had this sort of "object editing" capability IIRC. Actually, smalltalk could connect different data types, such as code, images, videos, presentations, docs, etc into a cohesive whole. Not as polished as your demo of course , but that was the core idea.

https://gtoolkit.com/

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#155

Post by thesurlydev »

I like the idea but what would be next level would be to visualize a project and all its dependencies such as microservices, database, queue, etc.

Has there been any studies that prove that this infinite canvas mode is more productive than using a traditional IDE with heavy use of keyboard shortcuts, etc.

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#156

Post by akshaysg »

thesurlydev wrote: post #155

I like the idea but what would be next level would be to visualize a project and all its dependencies such as microservices, database, queue, etc. Has there been any studies that prove that this infinite canvas mode is more productive than using a traditional IDE with heavy use of keyboard shortcuts, etc.

Yeah I think that would be useful and we'll get there!

For studies someone else pointed out https://austinhenley.com/pubs/Henley2014CHI_Patchworks.pdf

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#157

Post by akshaysg »

welder wrote: post #147

This is very cool and building for a future of 100% AI generated coding, but for some reason I don't feel the urge to use it right now. I think it's because using the mouse turns me off. I use Vim or Vscode with Vim keybindings so any workflow depending on a mouse won't work for me.

You don't have to use a mouse! We try to make it as keyboard accessible as possible and do have a lot of keybindings (see the button on the bottom right for keybindings).

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#158

Post by akshaysg »

simonmysun wrote: post #131

In my mind this a convenient approach for developers to map the code into a two dimensional space in a spread-out way. It is similar to method of loci[1] that the develpoper spacially elaborately encode the code snippets and their connections to strengthen the memory thus strengthen the comprehension. I boldly suggest considering ading an option for a background pattern which is not distracting but a little bit infor…

We plan to add a minimap to help users orient themselves.

Also the idea of using subtle color differences or sounds is interesting to me. Will think about this!

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#159

Post by akshaysg »

slightwinder wrote: post #150

This looks like a very simple mindmap, but more annoying to use because of the big elements. Some automated positioning seems very necessary here. Additionally, what about proper mindmap/diagram-features and notes? If you take a look at https://obsidian.md/canvas you will see that they have things like colored groups and different element-types. And their community-extensions have many more improvements for the canva…

We do plan to add sticky notes and other diagramming features. We also try to position the editors in the viewport/canvas automatically, but would love feedback on that!

It supports normal VS Code extensions and features. We do plan to update it to match any VS Code updates, especially security updates.

Re: Launch HN: Haystack (YC S24) – Visualize and edit code on an infinite canvas

#160

Post by akshaysg »

Scribbd wrote: post #146

I often use `code` command in the cli for a bunch of tasks. Mostly to just open an instance of vscode in a dir I am at. Is there a plan for such a command like that for haystack-ide? Meanwhile, an alias is easily created for macOS: `alias needle="/Applications/Haystack\ Editor.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron"`

Yeah I think we added this for Windows but neglected to do so for Mac. Will add a `haystack-editor` command!
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