Interactive Source Code

Lutz Roeder
March 2001

Programming in the Year 2005

C#, Java, VB programming on a typewriter:

_ ! # $ % & ( ) * + , - . /
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~ _

Code=Text?
Text syntax is locking code away
Code Model roundtrip impossible, Users think text. HTML inside C# inside ASP.net inside XSLT (x &lt; 3) Tools need parser. Parser is not ubiquitous and language specific.

What about Structured Editing

Structured editing didnt catch on. Lots of platform dependencies for visual editing.

Opportunities
New Platform, Language (.NET and C#) Improve browsing experience of existing tools

Unify Browser, Viewer, Editor

Components
Loader

Source Code
Parser Viewer

Code Model
Editor Compiler

Class Browser
Components

Code Browser Code Editor

Source Code Browsing?

Browsing experience?
There is no standard source code browser >40000 downloads for binary browser

Everything is just one click away?

Syllable search, Reference Search Help, Documentation

The same is needed for code

Similar browsing experience for C# and VB

Once we can edit them

Plain Text

Text, different language views Fonts, colors, emphasis Greek symbols, Symbols Bitmaps, Icons, Flowchart views Color/Brush/Pen picker, Outline views Documentation editor, Mail

1D

Typographic Scientific Notations Graphics

2D

Controls Towards Applications

Features, Features,
Commenting

Color Picker

Notations

Visual Editing and Attachments