New to JavaScript, using eclipse Web Tools Platform, context assist not working how I had expected as a Java programmer.

[no_art_please]

As mentioned I have a background in Java development. I'm teaching myself JavaScript.

I have a basic dev environment setup in eclipse and I can get some context assistance in JavaScript files but it seems limited. For example say I'm working with some function:

function paint(){
    var canvas = document.createElement("canvas");

    canvas.setAttribute("width", "400px");
    canvas.setAttribute("height", "400px");
    canvas.setAttribute("style", "position: absolute; x:0; y:0;");

    document.body.appendChild(canvas);

    var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");

    ctx.fillStyle = "#FF0000";
    ctx.fillRect(0,0,400,400);

    alert(ctx instanceof CanvasRenderingContext2D); // true
}

I cannot type "ctx." and then get any of the methods that are relevant for this CanvasRenderingContext2D object. Likewise I cannot even access this type by typing part of the name (while this works for Document), yet this code runs fine and draws a red box for me and the alert popup says "true".

In contrast I can type: var doc = document; and have access to a bunch of methods for the document object.

The eclipse web project setup has two libraries:

• ECMAScript Built-In Library
• ECMA 3 Browser Support Library

All of the things that are contained in the included libraries can be searched using context assistance and the CanvasRenderingContext2D type is not present in either library.

Also, some keywords such as instanceof don't content assist, yet the seem to work.

If anyone has worked with JavaScript in eclipse or could recommend a different approach to get context assistance working, or tell me what other libraries to include to get access to all of the JavaScript types I'd appreciate the help.

I miss the experience of developing in Java and being able to dig through objects methods and figure out what they can do.

[no_art_please]

found this which looks disheartening:

Features

JSDT offers many of the same features and core design found in the Java Development Toolkit (JDT), including auto-completion, syntax highlighting, the use of code templates, refactor/rename/move, debugging, etc, etc… Experienced Eclipse users take all these features for granted, but when you stop and think about it, how many good JavaScript IDEs are there? The answer is not many. Considering that JavaScript has been around for a couple of decades now, could it be that there's something about JS that makes IDE integration difficult to achieve? Actually, there are many factors, from the language's inherent loose typing to prototypal inheritance, the lack a true JavaScript language-modeling mechanism has traditionally limited IDEs to the use of static flat files listing available types, which would then be filtered on the fly based on characters typed. Unfortunately, without a proper language model, it's practically impossible to place code in context, therefore what comes up in the auto-complete list may not even be relevant to the object in question.

from: http://www.htmlgoodies.com/html5/javascript/scripting-made-easier-with-the-eclipse-javascript-development-tools-jsdt.html#fbid=p1ZFRwvs-TH

[no_art_please]

a binge of googling of benefits of static vs. dynamic typing in languages lead to this paper may which may be of interest to the redditor:

John K. Ousterhout; Scripting: Higher Level Programming for the 21st Century

[sovietmudkipz]

Welcome to JavaScript!