Friday, August 14, 2009

Enhanced Code Completion

Most modern development environments for virtually any programming language come complete with code completion. What exactly is code completion? Code completion makes developers life easier by giving them names to select from when typing the beginning of the name. So, for instance, if you were to start typing the name of a class "My", the editor would then give you a list of names that begin with "My", allowing you to select the name you want to use. It makes their life easier by recognizing that they are attempting to use a name that is defined in the current context such as a class or function name. Code completion also works when developers attempt to use members of a class such as attributes or methods. Once the developers engages the dot notation, the code completion engine is able to present the developer with the available members of that class or instance.

So is this as productive as it gets in regards to code completion? I think code completion in open source development environments could be enhanced. Geany serves as an example of how code completion could be enhanced. If a developer already has a function or method name is use, then the developer should be able to edit sections of the name and be presented with a list of available names. A common scenario is to change the prefix of a name. This however, will not give the developer a list of choices in most editors.

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