Re: syntax completion - a bad thing?

[dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

Steve said

<<Ahh! But the problem occurs with the EDITOR. Apex is a development
environment (editor, config control, &c) - When you are using the
editor, you get syntax completion (unless you turn it off). I have
used Apex (and the earlier Rational 'delta' boxes) and encountered
bugs resulting from erroneous code completion - usually an 'end if' in
the wrong place. The editor seems to look for a blank line sometimes
(presumably when indentation does not help) and puts the end if there.
IMO completion is helpful if you force it after keywords to get a
template IF you are writing a new subprogram. On existing code it is
more trouble than it is worth. My approach was to use vi on existing
code and the Rational editor to create new stuff.>>

Ah, sure, yes the Rational EDITOR does like to molest source as you
enter it. A lot of programmers like this and find it useful, and as
you point out it is an option you can turn off. Personally I hate
editors that do *anything at all* to the text I am entering, I don't
even like the Ada mode in EMACS, and I think that editors that produce
"useful" templates (like the default mode of EPM on OS/2 editing a C
file, or DEC's LSE) are a menace.

But this is a place where tastes differ VERY widely, and the important
thing is that these kind of features should be configurable in your
environment. And indeed using vi seems a quite reassonable "work around".