TE
TechEcho
Home24h TopNewestBestAskShowJobs
GitHubTwitter
Home

TechEcho

A tech news platform built with Next.js, providing global tech news and discussions.

GitHubTwitter

Home

HomeNewestBestAskShowJobs

Resources

HackerNews APIOriginal HackerNewsNext.js

© 2025 TechEcho. All rights reserved.

Is anyone actually using Xcode?

32 pointsby geekoabout 16 years ago

17 comments

demallienabout 16 years ago
I always suspect that part of the problem is that people come to xcode from other environments, expecting to use the same workflows that they previously had, and it just doesn't work. Personally, I don't think it would be a bad thing if Apple made a bit more effort to reach out to programmers coming from other environments, but honestly, I suspect that they figure that any programmer not capable of dealing with this is probably not a great loss for the Apple ecosystem.<p>It is a point worth remembering that all of Apple's own software is built in xcode. That all by itself shows that the app isn't fundamentally broken, even if one may feel like there is room for improvement.<p>On a sightly different note, I'm always fascinated by this type of rant, of a programmer complaining about their programming tools. I mean, you're a <i>programmer</i>, if you don't like the tools, roll your own that are better. Or write some scripts that ease the pain in the tool, or adapt a 3rd party tool to do the task. For example, this guy could quite easily prepare an iPhone dev plug-in for Textmate, if xcode really is as bad as he says. Here's an example: <a href="http://www.pathf.com/blogs/2008/11/iphone-sdk-testing-with-textmate-gtm/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pathf.com/blogs/2008/11/iphone-sdk-testing-with-t...</a><p>Complaining about dev tools for me sends up a whopping great big red flag that the programmer isn't as good as they think they are.
评论 #605016 未加载
评论 #605204 未加载
allenbrunsonabout 16 years ago
I've used Xcode for years now. (You're not capitalizing the name the way Apple wants you to, by the way.) I actually kind of like it. It crashes more often than I'd like, especially when using the organizer window for iPhones, but you can't have everything.
hboonabout 16 years ago
I drag the divider in the project window to just show the groups and files (tree) section and no code. Double clicking in the tree opens new editor windows. I move the project window to a secondary monitor, open two primary editor windows side by side in the primary monitor. From that point onwards, I can either double click on the tree or use the open quickly shortcut, cmd+dbl click on method/classes to open new editor windows. Seems pretty alright to me. I used to have 10+ windows when using Dolphin and it seemed ok too, maybe it's just me.<p>&#62; Windows mean different things. Some mean code documents, some mean visual aid, some mean a kind of “project” that groups all things.<p>I end up with only the project window (only the navigation tree and it's a slim and tall window), editor windows (the only windows with code, half a screen width, usually full screen height) and the occasional Xcode documentation window.<p>&#62; The project window continually morphs it’s state as you enter and exit debugging. It’s appearance is different, not upon your application’s state, but rather the toolbar button in the upper left, that automatically changes (one-way).<p>I hardly use the project window since there is the open quickly shortcut. I do use it to open when there is less than 2 editor windows open (Xcode oddity, it will open the code in the project window in this case, and because I only show the tree, it looks like nothing happened. Took me a while to figure that out).<p>When I run the app in debug mode and hit a breakpoint, I just use the shortcut buttons on the top of any editor window to pop up the debugger, not touching the project window.<p>&#62; All the code looks the same. There is no unique identifier in Exposé mode. I must selectively hover over each file and read it’s filename. Or, I can exposé to try and find the project window (which can look much like a code window too), and then open a new document.<p>The code windows are not labelled in Exposé, but does hovering over them break the flow for you? Or is it because all the windows, including the project window look the same to you?<p>&#62; If I accidentally Cmd-W the Project window, I have to start from scratch, opening the whole project and each document again. This often happens as you accidentally open windows and want to immediately close them.<p>That's strange. If I close the project window, all I have to do is open it again and all the editor windows open up as they were previously
dchestabout 16 years ago
My setup looks like this: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chestnykh/3525052710/sizes/o/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/chestnykh/3525052710/sizes/o/</a><p>There's a project window with code editor on the left, console on the right, and documentation on another space. I rarely use more than one editor window.<p>Frequently used shortcuts for navigation:<p><pre><code> Cmd+Opt+Up — toggle between .h/.m, Cmd+Opt+Left/Right — go to previous/next opened file, ^2 — quickly jump to methods, Cmd+0 — navigate the project tree. </code></pre> I rarely use Debugger (which is a separate window in my setup) as I prefer logging to console for debugging.<p>Finally, Xcode has different layouts: Default, All-In-One, and Condensed (see General Preferences, I use Default).<p>My wish: move Documentation to an external app (sometimes I press Cmd+Tab instead of Cmd+` to switch to Xcode from Documentation).
jjsabout 16 years ago
Xcode is much more manageable when you're using Spaces, and set up one desktop exclusively for Xcode, and an adjacent one for Interface Builder.
评论 #605392 未加载
GeneralMaximusabout 16 years ago
Even I felt Xcode's window management was out of place when I started using it. Learning some keyboard shortcuts eased the pain.<p>Here are some links: <a href="http://cocoasamurai.blogspot.com/2008/02/complete-xcode-keyboard-shortcut-list.html" rel="nofollow">http://cocoasamurai.blogspot.com/2008/02/complete-xcode-keyb...</a><p><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/des-moines-cocoaheads/browse_thread/thread/db4d6497a40ddd07#" rel="nofollow">http://groups.google.com/group/des-moines-cocoaheads/browse_...</a><p>Additionally, you can script Xcode using several scripting languages. You can also write plugins for Xcode using AppleScript.
unwindabout 16 years ago
The title of this post really doesn't match the title of the linked-to article, which is confusing.
markessienabout 16 years ago
Learn to use your tools, don't expect the tools to adapt to you. I can switch easily between Eclipse, Visual Studio and XCode because I don't customize them. I accept them as they are, and after a while your mind switches the context with the tool and you can be as productive as you want without forcing paradigms from one environment to the other.
评论 #605058 未加载
geekoabout 16 years ago
I'm doing the stanford lectures on iphone development these days and XCode seems to be the IDE of choice. Mildly put, XCode feels rather unfinished. Is anyone here having a better/less painful alternative and managed to build real world apps for the iphone without using apple's IDE?
评论 #604987 未加载
gtufanoabout 16 years ago
I reached a good compromise with Xcode and its dreaded windows management using Witch &#60;<a href="http://manytricks.com/witch/&#62;" rel="nofollow">http://manytricks.com/witch/&#62;</a>. At least now I can have cycling through the XCode windows with a list, better than, as the author says, try to understand in Exposé where is the code I'm looking for. Worth a try, almost solved the problem for me.
评论 #605056 未加载
weaksauceabout 16 years ago
single window mode and a bunch of keyboard shortcuts make it bearable though. mapping command-1 to project and command-2 to debug makes it work well.
评论 #605052 未加载
spitfireabout 16 years ago
I'm using XCode. I rather like it, it's not as "enterprise ready" as eclipse. Which is a very good thing in my mind. Less bureaucracy/ceremony. But not as freeform/DIY as emacs.<p>For cocoa/iphone work it's lovely, I wouldn't try to build a web app in it though. It's just the right tool for certain jobs.
cliffabout 16 years ago
Office Mac is developed and compiled solely on XCode.
评论 #605220 未加载
评论 #605046 未加载
cubicle67about 16 years ago
You've probably seen this before, but here it is again. <a href="http://cocoasamurai.blogspot.com/2008/02/complete-xcode-keyboard-shortcut-list.html" rel="nofollow">http://cocoasamurai.blogspot.com/2008/02/complete-xcode-keyb...</a><p>I find it invaluable
e4mabout 16 years ago
Can anyone link statically in XCode? Why did Apple break static linking in ld?
评论 #606691 未加载
travisjefferyabout 16 years ago
Just about every Mac/iPhone developer I know does. You get used to it.
TweedHeadsabout 16 years ago
All-in-one layout<p><a href="http://meandmarkpublishing.blogspot.com/2007/06/reducing-xcodes-window-clutter.html" rel="nofollow">http://meandmarkpublishing.blogspot.com/2007/06/reducing-xco...</a>