3 ms·

I tried editing code on a mobile, even tablet, before, thinking "I have all this downtime where I'm mindlessly browsing on my phone, think of how productive I c

I tried editing code on a mobile, even tablet, before, thinking "I have all this downtime where I'm mindlessly browsing on my phone, think of how productive I could be if I could code during that time!" The reality becomes that those places are usually too distracting for me to be in a coding mindset, and even when not, typing code using a non-physical keyboard is tiring and cumbersome. Even just the occasional mistype stops my flow as I have to back up and fix the letter or number now that I'm several characters past it.

swiley 5y ago
I've been working on a browser on and off for a few years, I just started adding js support via Fabrice Bellard's Quickjs project and did this on my Pinephone while taking the train. I use FVWM as the DE with xvkbd as the keyboard (Originally I was expecting to have to change that but it turns out typing fast isn't needed to stay focused as long as you're decent at vim.) I've tried coding on iOS before but the whole thing is really built to push you toward chatting and scrolling. Everything is miserable down to switching between your editor and browser, copying files, and running your build tools. Not to mention the feeling that you can't build your own tools to fix problems you have. It's totally possible to be productive on a phone but you need to not be fighting against the OS vendor to do it.
- 1_player 5y ago
  > did this on my Pinephone while taking the train That sounds to me like the definition of living hell. Writing prose on a touchscreen is bad already, I can't imagine how bad it must be to write actual code on one. It's not an iPad(OS) problem, it's a form factor/peripheral problem.
  - swiley 5y ago
    I've found prose is much more painful (by orders of magnitude really) than code (provided the keyboard has symbol/modifier keys and works well with your editor.) that's why I thought it wouldn't work.
danohuiginn 5y ago
A bluetooth keyboard makes a massive difference. Working in a jupyter notebook (hosted elswhere) on Android is a smooth experience for me

swiley 5y ago

I've been working on a browser on and off for a few years, I just started adding js support via Fabrice Bellard's Quickjs project and did this on my Pinephone while taking the train. I use FVWM as the DE with xvkbd as the keyboard (Originally I was expecting to have to change that but it turns out typing fast isn't needed to stay focused as long as you're decent at vim.) I've tried coding on iOS before but the whole thing is really built to push you toward chatting and scrolling. Everything is miserable down to switching between your editor and browser, copying files, and running your build tools. Not to mention the feeling that you can't build your own tools to fix problems you have. It's totally possible to be productive on a phone but you need to not be fighting against the OS vendor to do it.

1_player 5y ago
> did this on my Pinephone while taking the train That sounds to me like the definition of living hell. Writing prose on a touchscreen is bad already, I can't imagine how bad it must be to write actual code on one. It's not an iPad(OS) problem, it's a form factor/peripheral problem.
- swiley 5y ago
  I've found prose is much more painful (by orders of magnitude really) than code (provided the keyboard has symbol/modifier keys and works well with your editor.) that's why I thought it wouldn't work.

danohuiginn 5y ago

A bluetooth keyboard makes a massive difference. Working in a jupyter notebook (hosted elswhere) on Android is a smooth experience for me