IDE Comments to improve Helios

Sebastian Heidbrink gave a ton of valuable feedback on the tooling:

Helios: I need to toggle windows and jump forth and back. That is anoying on a netbook while I am not at home. Legacy IDE: integrated in the same window mean I can scroll

Helios: Documentations is checked by default and I need to uncheck it all the time when ever I browse a new class Legacy IDE: I decide when the documentation is presented

Helios: Category "All" is not selected by default. One has to click all the time to see methods Legacy IDE: I open a class and all needed information is visible.

Helios: I am asked all the time whether I really want to leave the page. Legacy IDE: that's just fine

Helios: menus only represent a small variaty of the funktionality and most stuff is only accessible via short keys that sometimes do not even work Usage of existing menues is difficult since the icons/buttons are so small. It took me several days do finally ralize that they are there at all. Legacy IDE: The most important stuff is just there.

Helios: Difficult to impossible to get started with as a Beginner. I am asked on a regular base how to work wit hit since the shot-keys are not really mentioned Legacy IDE: Most stuff ist just visible

Helios: Debugger as bad as before Legacy IDE: Without stepping debugger or a working save button currently more or less useless and the most critical reason not to get started with Amber at all.

Helios: It is unclear how one can import/fileIn existing Smalltalk code Legacy IDE: There is a button in Workspace and one can just import stuff.... one of the initial powers of Amber...

When I compare both then Helios askes for much more user interaction than the Legacy IDE and that is why I stay with the Legacy IDE. Because interaction costs time and therefore productivity

But Pharo suffers the same issues. Most used actions like "browse implementors" and such are sometimes hidden on menu's second level. So Pharo crowd seems to be used to that or they all use short keys.

The reason why I am a short key user is jsut due to the fact that I am working on different keyboard layouts a day and it is too hard to adapt all the time.