Hi subbu I used the same metaphor :)
Stef On Sat, Jul 22, 2017 at 4:37 PM, K K Subbu <kksubbu...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Saturday 22 July 2017 06:51 PM, Tim Mackinnon wrote: > >> The one that stuck out for me (and is actually mentioned in another >> thread this week) was the class/instance method difference. They >> conceptually understood the difference coming from other languages >> but our UI is tricky to understand with the Class button toggle we >> have, and if you get methods on the wrong side, like with a test, >> it's quite confusing. > > > It is an easy mistake to make and I have often seen this confusion in > beginners. With the attention on the methods panel and text input, it is > easy to overlook the class toggle button :-(. > > An easy fix is to switch background color to differentiate between class and > instance methods in both code and input panels. A better way would be to use > tabs (like in Inspector). > > BTW, I use the metaphor of toys (objects), moulds (classes) and mould > factory (metaclass). A mould is an object from the perspective of the mould > maker. Therefore operations on classes are 'methods' from the maker's > perspective (note the recursion!). > >> Anyway - this got me thinking - why do we bother having a toggle in >> our UI for this these days? Of course we know there is a class and a >> metaclass but given that we have icons for methods now (and also have >> a Protocol pane ) why don't we just show all the methods we have in >> one list and let you filter them or even see them all? It seems much >> easier and way more efficient to rapidly code this way. > > > This perspective comes from the traditional way - code and compile. In > Pharo, we code one method at a time and sources are held in an external file > and a pointer stored in each method, so displaying all methods in one panel > would result in multiple file reads. > >> The only question then would be how to create methods of the right >> type - whether to have a button to create the right template (and put >> the browser code pane in the right context) or whether to indicate >> it by convention of the method name when creating it like + new: >> aSize etc. (Or even: class new: aSize etc). >> >> The more I think about it, the more it seems like something we should >> consider trying both for making ourselves more efficient (I'll bet >> everyone has written a method on the wrong side by mistake) and also >> helping newcomers. > > > Such mistakes are part of the learning curve and decrease with time. > > Regards .. Subbu >
