[Idle-dev] IDLE going forward

[Robert]

On 2011-02-02 17:45:42 -0500, Douglas S. Blank said:

> On 02/02/2011 04:58 PM, Robert wrote:
>> It was suggested in another Python newsgroup that IDLE has flaws. Yes, I
>> know, hard to believe that software has flaws, however, out of that was
>> born a desire to clean up the code cruft etc. in IDLE.
> 
> As a long time IDLE user, I don't think that the issue is that IDLE has
> flaws. What is missing is a group of people that use it everyday who
> have a vision about making it better than it currently is.

I should have put suggested in quotes.  :-)

> 
>> Two things that came out generally were:
>> 
>> * Update the UI (use ttk widgets etc.)
>> * More tests and automate testing
>> * Clean up the code
>> 
>> What else would you like to see? I was said that Python (and IDLE) are
>> going to Mercurial at some point, so maybe that would be a good time to
>> start the effort.
>> 
>> It will be a bit for me. I have some learning to do before I try and
>> tackle this. I think it would be a good way for me to continue to learn
>> about Python, unit testing, UI design and code refactoring.
>> 
>> So chime in with your suggestions!
> 
> I've stopped using IDLE, so I don't know if some of these issues have
> been addressed in the latest versions, but here are some things that
> were issues:
> 
> * needs a stable interface for plugins (it seemed like each version
> changed slightly and our extensions kept breaking)
> 
> * more hooks for plugins
> 
> * needed a way to run the code in editor window without restarting the
> shell (some code has start-up code that should not have to be re-run
> each time you want to load the program)
> 
> * control+p and alt+p (print and previous) were too similar and I kept
> printing the entire history
> 
> * allow one to select a printer before printing
> 
> * ability to clear the shell window
> 
> * allow IDLE to startup with either shell or editor
> 
> * Don't show the weird, scary message about Personal Firewall
> subprocessing and loopbacks. That is not a good way to introduce people
> to computing!
> 
> * Allow more than one idle to be run at same time
> 
> * command-line history persistent between sessions
> 
> * some weird cursor positions in shell. home should take you to a place
> after prompt, not before.
> 
> * cutting and pasting from shell to window could remove the >>> prompts
> 
> * menu items not intuitive for beginners
> 
> * more options with a context-sensitive right-mouse-click
> 
> IDLE is very nice, but it could be developed into a finally-tuned product.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> -Doug

Thanks for the input Doug.

-- 
Robert