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Not only this -- but it renders you quite useless if you ever have to use a different environment. Sometimes that's because you have to use a different language

Not only this -- but it renders you quite useless if you ever have to use a different environment. Sometimes that's because you have to use a different language that doesn't have as much tooling, sometimes its because a product gets discontinued, or your employer forces a different IDE, etc. I definitely had this experience with CodeWarrior back in the day. I really loved that IDE. But then when Mac OS X came out and Objective-C became the native language, the tools weren't there yet, and I had to either program "alone" without autocomplete/fancy dynamic highlighting/etc, or use Project Builder (the predecessor to Xcode), which was lacking in all these departments. I found myself much slower, and not for the obvious reason of "of course, I'm missing all these great tools", but as you say, slower at things I knew I used to be fast at. It's kind of like discovering that no, you don't like broccoli, you actually just like the melted cheese on top. That was a big moment for me deciding to focus on generally applicable skills vs. IDE-specific skills. Interestingly enough, I think this legitimately doesn't apply to a lot of people because they spend most, if not all, their career in one domain. In that environment I think learning IDE-specific things makes a lot of sense. I discovered that this wasn't for me and move around a lot, so its nicer to not be dependent on those things.

scarface74 7y ago
Sometimes that's because you have to use a different language that doesn't have as much tooling, Which popular languages these days don’t have a dedicated IDE, plug ins for popular IDE’s and/or support for the language server protocol? sometimes its because a product gets discontinued, or your employer forces a different IDE, etc. I wouldn’t work for a company that forced an IDE on me. In that environment I think learning IDE-specific things makes a lot of sense. Visual Studio Code works with multiple languages as does Visual Studio.
- tolmasky 7y ago
  > Which popular languages these days don’t have a dedicated IDE, plug ins for popular IDE’s and/or support for the language server protocol? Most new languages until someone implements it. Again, this is very dependent on what you like to do. If you like trying bleeding edge stuff then you’ll probably run up against this. > I wouldn’t work for a company that forced an IDE on me. Sure, sometimes it’s kind of out of their control (or understandable). For example Xcode at Apple. Or if you work in a dev feature that needs to work with some tool or something. Again, my position is that it’s probably fine for most people. > Visual Studio Code works with multiple languages as does Visual Studio. OK, it’s interesting you bring up a fairly new entrant as proof this (at least I’m the Mac). Again, my interest is in trying lots of syntax extensions and stuff that usually just breaks these sorts of things. As I mentioned before, if you’re doing application development on a specific set of established languages for a very long time it’s probably the right move.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    For example Xcode at Apple. Or if you work in a dev feature that needs to work with some tool or something. Now you’re giving me flashbacks. I worked for a company where the founder wrote his own VB like IDE/Compiler/VM for Windows CE. I hated every minute of that job until I got the chance to work on the actual compiler written in C++/MFC.
utxaa 7y ago
agreed. i have too also noticed people who don't like IDE's tend to have more wide-spread knowledge (ever since a sys|network admin use an IDE?) they also move around more.

scarface74 7y ago

Sometimes that's because you have to use a different language that doesn't have as much tooling, Which popular languages these days don’t have a dedicated IDE, plug ins for popular IDE’s and/or support for the language server protocol? sometimes its because a product gets discontinued, or your employer forces a different IDE, etc. I wouldn’t work for a company that forced an IDE on me. In that environment I think learning IDE-specific things makes a lot of sense. Visual Studio Code works with multiple languages as does Visual Studio.

tolmasky 7y ago
> Which popular languages these days don’t have a dedicated IDE, plug ins for popular IDE’s and/or support for the language server protocol? Most new languages until someone implements it. Again, this is very dependent on what you like to do. If you like trying bleeding edge stuff then you’ll probably run up against this. > I wouldn’t work for a company that forced an IDE on me. Sure, sometimes it’s kind of out of their control (or understandable). For example Xcode at Apple. Or if you work in a dev feature that needs to work with some tool or something. Again, my position is that it’s probably fine for most people. > Visual Studio Code works with multiple languages as does Visual Studio. OK, it’s interesting you bring up a fairly new entrant as proof this (at least I’m the Mac). Again, my interest is in trying lots of syntax extensions and stuff that usually just breaks these sorts of things. As I mentioned before, if you’re doing application development on a specific set of established languages for a very long time it’s probably the right move.
- scarface74 7y ago
  For example Xcode at Apple. Or if you work in a dev feature that needs to work with some tool or something. Now you’re giving me flashbacks. I worked for a company where the founder wrote his own VB like IDE/Compiler/VM for Windows CE. I hated every minute of that job until I got the chance to work on the actual compiler written in C++/MFC.

utxaa 7y ago

agreed. i have too also noticed people who don't like IDE's tend to have more wide-spread knowledge (ever since a sys|network admin use an IDE?) they also move around more.