[racket-dev] stepper UI question

> I can think of many different ways to make the stepper<->definition
> correspondence manifest.   As John said, I once suggested that the code
> should be reduced in-place, in the definition window. Shriram doesn't
> like that idea (but he has never bothered to say why.)

That's right, I didn't.

Here's why.  It introduces subtle state into the editor.

If you start stepping, and then try to Save, are you saving the
stepped version or the original?

If you start stepping, forget that you are doing that, and then start
editing, what are you editing?

If you step, does it affect the unsavedness of the editor?
(Presumably not.)

If I have a textual program, and step, does it next save in graphical
format?  (I wouldn't want that.)

One way to prevent some of the more egregious problems is to make
stepping a mode.  That brings its own problems -- how do you make it
not suck, how do you focus attention on it, etc.

I think people have a clear model of what an editor is: it's like
Word, like the text box of GMail, etc.  Each one offers some
highlighting feedback and some rich-text editing -- but it's just an
editor.  It's not a place where programs run.  Putting the stepper
into the editor in a model way really messes with that.

I certainly agree with you (and have always agreed with you, for the
many years we've talked about this) that losing the correspondence to
the source program is a problem.  But I don't think putting it in the
editor is the solution.  I do find Ryan's suggestion -- to use
highlighting in the editor -- very intriguing.  We already highlight
in the editor, and it's pretty unintrusive.  In that style, it might
even be possible for a stepper window to combine highlighting with
showing *just* the current redex, and giving the user the option of
expanding the scope of attention (ie, show me more of the current
expression when I want it).

Shriram