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As someone who uses a keyboard 98% of the time, but who uses a GUI editor and the mouse when it makes sense, I'd say the mouse is useful for several things, and what it IS useful for WILL be faster than what someone can do with a keyboard.

The clear win is using a powerful GUI-based editor that has tons of keyboard commands. Bonus points for being on Windows or Linux (i.e., not Mac OS) so you can navigate/BROWSE the menus from the keyboard.

I don't know Sublime myself; I'll have to check it out. For some reason I thought it was Mac-only, but I see that it's cross-platform. My editor-of-choice for years has been Visual Slickedit, but I'm not married to it. I just haven't found anything half as good in years of searching. And I keep trying other editors, too, since there are things I find imperfect about it (the scripting language is usable, for instance, but has it's own syntax and quirks).




> there are things I find imperfect about it (the scripting language is usable, for instance, but has it's own syntax and quirks).

In terms of scriptable editors, the Zeus editor is scriptable in Lua, Python, TCL or JavaScript, but it is native to Windows: http://www.zeusedit.com/

Jussi Jumppanen

Author: Zeus IDE


Tried Zeus probably 4 years ago. I really have tried a lot of options, but I haven't been back to Zeus after the first try. I can't remember any specifics of what turned me away from it, though the thing that SlickEdit does better than almost everyone else is tagging. I use boost::shared_ptr (and now the C++11 version) a LOT, and so completion is useless in anything that doesn't know how to complete a template class. ctags and its ilk, last time I checked, were worthless in this regard, and I have a vague sense that Zeus relied on those for tagging? Yes, looking at the web site, you're using ctags. Will "shared_ptr<Foo> foo; foo->" autocomplete for members of Foo?

SlickEdit also Just Works with tagging. You put the files into a project, and everything is instantly cross-referenced. "Where is Foo::init() used? No, I don't want Blah::init(), just Foo::init()." SlickEdit, at least SOME of the time, can get that right, and with no configuration of external tools.

Aside from that, I think one of the greatest drawbacks of Slickedit is that it isn't open source, so when things go wrong I can't just fix it. Slickedit IS cross-platform, at least, with native Linux and Mac OS versions, and that ALSO is important to me.

Lua is the Right Answer for scripting, IMO. The rest of the options are actually a liability for me, since it means that if I'm editing someone else's script, I might have to deal with Python, TCL, or JavaScript.

I'm rambling now. I feel like I have an "Editor Manifesto" in my head that wants to get out, but I don't have time right now to do it justice. I'll take another look at Zeus when I get a chance, just as I'll take another look at Sublime and the rest. It's been years since I've looked, so I'll take another glance at it.


Just so you know, in Mac OS you can navigate the menu with keyboard. Try Ctrl+F2 to focus on the menu and then arrow keys


I'll have to give that a try. I've had countless people tell me it COULD be done, but when I drilled down what they were really telling me was that there were keyboard shortcuts.

If you're telling me I can hit Ctrl-F2, then that's at least a step in the right direction. Thing is, it's several steps behind where I would be on Windows (or most Linux desktops), because I can just hit Alt-F and it opens the file menu, or Alt-T for the tools menu, or what-have-you.

Still, it's better than nothing. Thanks.


I don't use the menu much so I tend to use the trackpad for that. You could also try KeyCue [http://www.ergonis.com/products/keycue/ ]. You press the Command key for a while and all the options are shown in a popup.


Nice! I'll check that out the next time I'm forced to work on a Mac (it happens when I do any iOS development...oh how I hate Apple...). KeyCue is a step in the right direction, UI-wise, regardless.


You can always outsource your iOS work to me :)


You mean Fn+Ctrl+F2, which requires repositioning both my hands, thus defeating the purpose.


I didn't say it was easy, just possible :P

In any case, I prefer to use the F keys as standard functions keys.




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