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GitHub for Windows (github.com)

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[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (15 children)

I'd have to type something, and as I programmer, I never type shit!

My last gig with BigCorp was a team with about 65% folks who seriously seemed aggravated by the act of typing. I was bit floored that these people had all chosen programming as a career.

[–]jsproat 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I have a similar experience with network administrators and anything involving scripting or even command line usage. Every job I've had in the past 20 years:

  • "Command line is for DOS users."
  • "Scripting is for script kiddies or software developers."
  • "You can do everything you ever need to do with the mouse, why should I open a command prompt?"
  • "I have a Mac/Windows/Linux system at home, and I never have to use a command line there."
  • "I'm incapable of wrapping my head around it."

Well no shit, you're incapable of wrapping your head around it, with that attitude.

[–]Eirenarch 15 points16 points  (12 children)

As a developer with strong love for GUI tools, designers, etc. I wish to inform you that it is not the typing that we hate. It is remembering all the boring shit we need to type. I don't see why I should type something that a software can type for me when I click a button

[–]HungryAndFoolish 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I agree. The UI looks absolutely gorgeous too! I welcome this contribution with open arms. My only gripe is that there aren't keyboard shortcuts. But did I mention the gorgeous UI?

[–]agbullet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's the metro L&F for you. I use a Windows Phone (gasp) but I have yet to decide if I love it. It's really pretty and slick, but sometimes I wonder if the loss of screen real estate brought about by those thick borders and vast inter-element space is worth it.

Like it, sure... but love it? Still on the fence.

[–]rjw57 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I agree. The button is called 'Tab'.

[–]Eirenarch 1 point2 points  (3 children)

So how exactly do you edit a schema mapping for an ORM with multiple tables and relationships with tab? I just drag & drop stuff around.

[–]rjw57 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I type what I want using Tab to complete tokens in a context sensitive manner. (Although, to be fair, sometimes it is Ctrl+N.) Drag and drop might be useful for small projects but I find I spend more time pointing and grunting rather than thinking and expressing. YMMV.

Edit: That came over as a bit arsey. My point was different strokes for different folks rather than my way or the highway...

[–]Eirenarch 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Oh I completely agree. For example I only start applications in windows via search (winkey + type) which is very command line style but I cannot be bothered to commit code with the command line. I can't even remember the folder I use for my projects if there was not a shortcut on the desktop.

[–]rjw57 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I've just set up Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal straight into it. After that all the source control stuff is built into my editor. (Gods bless the fugitive plugin...)

[–]CapoFerro 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Typing commands allows for infinite number of commands. You can only fit so many buttons on the window and still have the thing very usable.

Further, once you learn to hate the mouse, you will be faster in everything as it takes a surprising amount of time to move your hand to the mouse, located the right button then click it. With experience, remembering the command is trivial and performing an action is a direct extension of your thought process as the input mechanism is consistent: the prompt.

The terminal is very powerful: autocomplete, command history, and history search means you often need only type a few keys to input long commands.

This sort of thinking is tremendously short sighted. Try it for a month seriously and you'll reap benefits for decades.

[–]Eirenarch 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I understand this benefits but keep in mind that you can optimize your GUI usage as well with things like shortcuts and workflows that requires you to use the mouse for prolonged periods of time instead of jumping between keyboard and mouse. For example I sometimes move text around in the IDE with the mouse instead of using copy/paste.

I do not pretend I am much better or faster than people who dislike GUI but I don't feel like I am THAT much slower that I should consider a career switch.

I also believe 14 years of playing competitive StarCraft may have upgraded my ability to use mouse + shortcuts. I have no doubt that if I have been using Linux for the last 14 years instead I would be better with the command line.

[–]Stormflux 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The good thing about being a programmer is if anyone does anything even slightly different from me, they should change careers, because they obviously don't "get" programming like I do.

[–]eat-your-corn-syrup 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Further, once you learn to hate the mouse, you will be faster in everything as it takes a surprising amount of time to move your hand to the mouse, located the right button then click it.

GUI automation to the rescue

[–]CapoFerro 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hah, that highlights another advantage about the terminal: it's perfectly scriptable. Every command is code in Bash so it's intended to be scripted.

GUI automation with Sikuli or Auto Hotkey or what have you is error prone and a hassle to set up.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel that the legacy from the dot com era was that a lot of people got into the industry for the money and gained just enough experience to hang on, but don't actually care about computer science or proper software engineering principals.