4 ms·

There was something about the visceral nature of the tc environment and editor and toolset that just felt like you were very mentally close to the code you were

There was something about the visceral nature of the tc environment and editor and toolset that just felt like you were very mentally close to the code you were writing. Perhaps something about the bare simplicity. I can't help but feel i've been chasing it ever since in emacs.

pjmlp 10y ago
I tried to chase it in Emacs during 10 years, back in the 90 - 2000's, until I came to the conclusion that Mac and Windows IDEs are still closer to the old Borland experience than anything else. So nowadays I only use Emacs for Clojure or when I happen to access an UNIX server box.
swah 10y ago
Recently I had to do something I always avoided since it was platform specific a huge unknown space to me - code something in C#. It was one of the most pleasurable experiences with "programming" since those Pascal times, and gave that feeling of being close to the code. I attribute it to fast compiles, no need for context switching (due to superb autocompletion), and everything just working well inside the tool. Documentation was also very good, and the huge API you're exposed gives a feeling of power (like I felt as a teen with computers, that I could do so much). (My recent experience was Python, C (embedded too), Golang, and JS in the browser.)
- kuschku 10y ago
  > Documentation was also very good, and the huge API you're exposed gives a feeling of power (like I felt as a teen with computers, that I could do so much). That’s the reason why C#, or the language it was copied from (Java) are still popular when performance doesn’t have to be 100% perfect. Easy to use, very well documented and powerful, and reasonably fast.
- rb808 10y ago
  Edit and continue is the best thing about C#, its so useful to be able to set a breakpoint, and modify code in debug mode, move back a few lines and try again.

4 ms·

There was something about the visceral nature of the tc environment and editor and toolset that just felt like you were very mentally close to the code you were

by easytiger 10y ago

pjmlp 10y ago
I tried to chase it in Emacs during 10 years, back in the 90 - 2000's, until I came to the conclusion that Mac and Windows IDEs are still closer to the old Borland experience than anything else. So nowadays I only use Emacs for Clojure or when I happen to access an UNIX server box.
swah 10y ago
Recently I had to do something I always avoided since it was platform specific a huge unknown space to me - code something in C#. It was one of the most pleasurable experiences with "programming" since those Pascal times, and gave that feeling of being close to the code. I attribute it to fast compiles, no need for context switching (due to superb autocompletion), and everything just working well inside the tool. Documentation was also very good, and the huge API you're exposed gives a feeling of power (like I felt as a teen with computers, that I could do so much). (My recent experience was Python, C (embedded too), Golang, and JS in the browser.)
- kuschku 10y ago
  > Documentation was also very good, and the huge API you're exposed gives a feeling of power (like I felt as a teen with computers, that I could do so much). That’s the reason why C#, or the language it was copied from (Java) are still popular when performance doesn’t have to be 100% perfect. Easy to use, very well documented and powerful, and reasonably fast.
- rb808 10y ago
  Edit and continue is the best thing about C#, its so useful to be able to set a breakpoint, and modify code in debug mode, move back a few lines and try again.