[Idle-dev] Improvements to IDLE's UI

[Tal Einat]

I'm not sure if this can be done with an extension in a way that is constent
with how IDLE currently manages multiple files.

Having the open files as tabs instead of separate windows is something that
I believe was avoided on purpose. I think the original authors wanted to
keep it simple. Also, having separate files in different windows is often
very useful, since you can have the windows one alongside another, or
overlaying other windows.

Still, having tabs for dfferent files could be an interesting extension. I
think it would require some refactoring of the current core code though.


As for projects, that would a radical change of point-of-view for IDLE.
Currently IDLE edits files, and can have one instance of a Python shell. No
constraints or assumptions are made on the relations of files to other
files. This makes it a good simple IDE since it doesn't force you
to organize everything in projects, unlike some other IDEs.
For instance, if I'm simply writing a small script, I don't want a large,
complex IDE - IDLE is perfect. The same goes for when I'm doing some
research or data analysis in the interpreter, and have some code saved in
files which I update as I work. A complete development environment, while
suitable for large-scale projects, is simply not fit for these kind of
tasks. IDLE is.

I think we'd prefer to leave project-oriented functionality to other IDEs,
and keep IDLE simple and effective. Anyone have other opinions on this one?


- Tal

On 11/9/06, Colin Barnette <colin.barnette at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> There is some functionality I think IDLE could use. Perhaps an option to
> edit files in tabbed notebook, with a filelist as a sidebar. And/Or the
> ability to load project files with a project tree as a sidebar. I would
> really like to see some of these functions and more like them natively,
> however can this be done with an extension?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Colin Barnette
> <colin.barnette at gmail.com>
>
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