EasiestToLearn

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EasiestToLearn is a strategy for PickingATextEditor.

There are editors that can be considered "easy to learn" that fall into *both* sides of the EasyVsPowerful division.

On the "easy", we have editors that only have a few features, and have very detailed on-screen menus, so there is very little to learn -- editors such as Nano and Cooledit and perhaps jEdit. It would also seem necessary to maximize the use of menus (on-screen reminders) and named keys (on-keyboard reminders). For example, VAX/VMS editors like TPU and EDT can use the VT-220 keyboard's "SELECT" key to mark text. Whatever the key says, that is what editor does.

On the "powerful" side, we have editors with lots of features, but you already know how to use them.

For example, a UNIX TextEditor which lets you run UNIX shell commands on selections in your text buffer will be easier for a proficient UNIX programmer to use than a text editor which requires you to learn an entirely new sequence.

EasiestToLearn strategy is basically the idea that you use a TextEditor which leverages what you already know. It's the idea of reuse as applied to TextEditing?.

If this sounds interesting to you, try looking at the OberonEditorFamily. In particular (for Unix heads) the ACME and sam editors.


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Last edited October 17, 2023 8:58 am (diff)
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