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This is interesting, since I normally fall on the “let’s keep this approachable” side of things - but in this case I disagree. Maybe I’m just old, but I found
by willjp 5y ago
This is interesting, since I normally fall on the “let’s keep this approachable” side of things - but in this case I disagree.
Maybe I’m just old, but I found using the tools directly very comforting. Learning some static html in a computer camp in notepad.exe was approachable and empowering. I could do it anywhere. I don’t think connecting code to files or compiling it yourself (in simple cases) adds too much complexity while learning.
The first time I opened vs studio I was terrified. I was suddenly not in control of my project. What if I bork it? What if there is an incompatible project change? I think these tools are fantastic and should be used, I just also think learning your toolchain is useful. Disclaimer - I learned these at my own pace, outside of the pressures of a classroom.
- yeputons 5y agoI believe it's a question of how good the tools are. If you're "using the tools directly", you probably don't have much knobs to fiddle with and everything either works by default or does not work because of some well-known and searchable reason, e.g. "you Java source file should have the same name as the only public class". However, if try some higher-level tools, they may: * Try to guess your preferred options and guess incorrectly. * Hide some low-level details which actually matter in your specific case. * Provide error messages that are not easy to look up because the tool itself is not as popular as its lower-level counterpart For example, I found Eclipse (GUI) and Gradle (CLI) very frustrating to use, but IntelliJ (GUI) and Maven (CLI) worked wonderfully for me. The only downside of Maven comparing to pure javac for me was that it needed some boilerplate config. Other than that, it felt magical.