Code in Notepad? No thanks.

I've been known to drink the 37signals Kool-Aid now and then, because I think that in the bigger picture they have a lot of good ideas about user interface design and process.

But I have to call out the crap too, and this post that compares using a camera in manual mode to writing code in a straight text editor instead of an IDE, is about as crappy as you get.

I don't know if it's just old-skool people or what, but writing code in a text editor doesn't get you a badge of honor or a gold star. Nobody cares. You want an analogy? Using a text editor instead of an IDE because you want to be "in control" is like rubbing two sticks together to make a fire when you have a flame thrower available to you. Why waste your time? If you know how to use the flame thrower, you can do a whole lot more, and do it faster. 

12 Comments

  • OMG that is about the dumbest post i've ever seen. I too like some of 37signal's philosophies, but that is just plain stupid.

    REAL MEN USE PUNCHCARDS!!!!

  • No no no no, you're missing the point.

    You give the interns an empty desktop with notepad and tell them to have fun. Later, after much pain, suffering and hopefully halarity, you allow them to use an IDE (maybe an outdated one first).

  • Using a text editor instead of an IDE because you want to be "in control" is like rubbing two sticks together to make a fire when you have a flame thrower available to you.
    How many Boy Scouts are you going to take out when you fire up that flame thrower at your next camping trip?

    The point is sometimes you don't, or shouldn't use that flame thrower, just because it is available to you. If you want the fine control, perhaps the IDE isn't going to give you the level of control you need for the particular task.

    You should also note that Windows Notepad is NOT even close to on par with the text editor that 37 Signals uses: TextMate. Way more powerful, way better. Try E Text Editor for a taste of what they're talking about.

  • If you don't have control, then maybe you're using the wrong IDE.

  • Notepad == pinhole camera?

  • I always have intellisense turned off - if I need it I just hit ctrl+space.

    I see their point, but its a little extreme - maybe with a language that has a handful of language contructs.

    Just watched the screencast of that editor and its pretty much VS with no intellisense - it looks cool nonetheless though.

    Like anything though, a good coder can use notepad as easily as they can use something like notepad.

    I agree with you Jeff :-)

  • Text editors come in very handy with any coding IDE, even for tricky methods of debugging XML, but especially for stripping out rich text when you copy and paste code from IDEs like VS 2005, which is something I use Editpad for a lot.

  • ok i disagree w/ you.... I love visual studio and eclipse and net beans before that.... BUT as that im reaonably new to the ms fold (4 years) I can say that many ms developers I interact w/ can be kind of brain dead due in part to their dependence on visual studio... they lose track and sight of what their doing... or never knew in the first place. To be honest if im not working in a .net environment im working w/ a nice text editor (textmate usually) and a console, and feel plenty productive.

    Keep in mind that visual studio is an anomoly in the ide world... becuase... compared to many others its pretty good....

  • I disagree, Mike. The dependence on Visual Studio is not the problem. The abysmal state of API documentation on MSDN is.

  • This is dumb. Maybe when you are first starting and not required to get important things done in a short period of time this makes sense.

    Most developers are not at this level anymore, especially in the workforce. If you know what is going on then use the best tools available. The point is to be productive. Use frameworks that empower you and IDEs that simplify your life. I do not care if someone NEEDS their intellisense. These people are most likely onto higher things now in their roles as developers.

    Writing code is important, but I would rather use my brain cells on design patterns than language syntax.

  • I agree at least in part with the point made. I think that the most important thing with any development tool is control and understanding. If a tool is doing something for you which you are unaware of, you should switch it off and get to know that feature.

    IDEs should be a power user tool which allows a developer to take shortcuts and just "Get Things Done"(TM).

  • You are hiring for a Hibernate project. Steve knows Hibernate so well, he can write Hibernate mappings on a piece of notebook paper for any ORM situation without referencing any documentation. Mike understands Hibernate, and can write any Hibernate mapping given access to Google or Hibernate in Action. Let's assume that, in all other respects, both developers have personalities and values that align with your company, have other skills that will add value to the team, communicate well, learn quickly, have similar years of experience, etc. The extent to which they can write correct code off the top of their head, with or without an IDE, is the discriminating factor. Would you hire Steve or Mike?

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