Comment by RodgerTheGreat
1 year ago
Most of these tools are distractions. I don't want suggestions or needling warnings sliding around on my screen while I compose and examine programs; I want a quiet space to write and think. Focus is essential.
I organize notes and action items in a paper notebook in front of me or a text file in another editor pane. I read the code. I search and diff with standard POSIX utilities that are available in every environment. In the languages which support it, I try ideas and answer my own questions in a REPL.
Practice leaning on tooling all day and living without it will feel unthinkable. Practice doing without, and you'll find you need very little.
Agreed. I don't need my code to turn red just because I haven't finished writing the entire line. I'm aware this isn't valid code, I'm not done.
It is remarkable how much easier it is to acquire and recall relevant information while programming if you don't have an IDE constantly spraying distractions in your face and breaking up your train of thought.
I don't code a lot, an when I do it's PHP, HTML, JS, CSS, or Python, and I still just use nano.
If you prefer not to, that's fine; we all have our preferences. But I'd ask the person who pairs with you how much the productivity is actually impacted. In my experience engineers are very prone to romanticizing arbitrary stuff (languages, editors, tools, window paradigms, processes, debuggers, event fonts and colors or whatever). Your coworkers will see right through it, though, and won't hesitate to be honest.