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Doesn't it get a bit overwhelming to get a huge list of choices with autocomplete? I've never done any serious work with Java or Kotlin, so I'm genuinely curiou

Doesn't it get a bit overwhelming to get a huge list of choices with autocomplete? I've never done any serious work with Java or Kotlin, so I'm genuinely curious. As long as you have good docs, I find discoverability is rarely an issue. One of the first things I do when picking up a language is look through its built-in constructs, to familiarize myself with the available options.

kornish 9y ago
Typing a couple characters is generally enough to cut out most of the noise, so long as you know vaguely what you're looking for and the methods are sensibly named. I don't think it's the built-in constructs which are hard to find. In JVM-land, it's sifting through often verbose library interfaces that makes discoverability a huge win. Looking in Javadoc for that single function to convert from Type A to Type B properly can be a real pain.
Groxx 9y ago
Only when things become ambiguous semantically. E.g. if they had `toUri` and `asUri` and `parseUri` etc then sure. But even then it's far more discoverable / less overwhelming than "I have a String. I want a Uri. Do I use a UriBuilder, UriParser, Uri, StringConverterFactory, etc?". Not only do you have all classes to choose from, you need to pick the one with the right methods (usually not visible when choosing the class) for the data you have. Some IDEs can and do improve the helper-classes case a bit by letting you type e.g. `myString.uri` and showing you "uri" methods both on string and static methods anywhere which accept strings... but it's not widespread, sometimes unhelpful (there are far too many "parse" methods), and you're still missing out on the class context which sometimes has important info.
izacus 9y ago
Hmm, have you used any of the Java-based autocompletion systems? - IntellJ / Android Studio autocompletion system is context aware and will only list relevant methods (which means that the list is rather short and useful for the context). Which is a stark contrast to many ctags-like autocompletion systems, which will just dump all the symbols on you and aren't very useful in my experience. Using autocompletion means you don't have to leave the editor window and I've found it hugely useful for methods which have several overrides - instead of leaving the editor, you just choose the one you need as you type.
- TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
  Most of my experiences with Java were during college with Eclipse. I just remember finding it rather frustrating to have the autocomplete regularly popping up and showing me dozens of options without an easy way of learning more about em. At some point I read through the Kotlin docs and found it interesting, but didn't have any projects in mind for it. I might try my hand again along with IntelliJ / Android Studio. I've happily used other JetBrain products such as RubyMine and WebStorm.
  - ReidZB 9y ago
    With autocomplete open in IntelliJ, you can press F1 to view the docs for that currently highlighted autocomplete method inline. Works really well.

kornish 9y ago

Typing a couple characters is generally enough to cut out most of the noise, so long as you know vaguely what you're looking for and the methods are sensibly named. I don't think it's the built-in constructs which are hard to find. In JVM-land, it's sifting through often verbose library interfaces that makes discoverability a huge win. Looking in Javadoc for that single function to convert from Type A to Type B properly can be a real pain.

Groxx 9y ago

Only when things become ambiguous semantically. E.g. if they had `toUri` and `asUri` and `parseUri` etc then sure. But even then it's far more discoverable / less overwhelming than "I have a String. I want a Uri. Do I use a UriBuilder, UriParser, Uri, StringConverterFactory, etc?". Not only do you have all classes to choose from, you need to pick the one with the right methods (usually not visible when choosing the class) for the data you have. Some IDEs can and do improve the helper-classes case a bit by letting you type e.g. `myString.uri` and showing you "uri" methods both on string and static methods anywhere which accept strings... but it's not widespread, sometimes unhelpful (there are far too many "parse" methods), and you're still missing out on the class context which sometimes has important info.

izacus 9y ago

Hmm, have you used any of the Java-based autocompletion systems? - IntellJ / Android Studio autocompletion system is context aware and will only list relevant methods (which means that the list is rather short and useful for the context). Which is a stark contrast to many ctags-like autocompletion systems, which will just dump all the symbols on you and aren't very useful in my experience. Using autocompletion means you don't have to leave the editor window and I've found it hugely useful for methods which have several overrides - instead of leaving the editor, you just choose the one you need as you type.

TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
Most of my experiences with Java were during college with Eclipse. I just remember finding it rather frustrating to have the autocomplete regularly popping up and showing me dozens of options without an easy way of learning more about em. At some point I read through the Kotlin docs and found it interesting, but didn't have any projects in mind for it. I might try my hand again along with IntelliJ / Android Studio. I've happily used other JetBrain products such as RubyMine and WebStorm.
- ReidZB 9y ago
  With autocomplete open in IntelliJ, you can press F1 to view the docs for that currently highlighted autocomplete method inline. Works really well.