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Visual Studio 2010 Concept IDE

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10 Jun 200510 min read 652.8K   131   190
Design concept for a new Visual Studio UI.

Overview

  1. Code (May 23, 2005)
  2. Debug (June 6, 2005)
  3. Test
  4. Refactor

I. Code

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Like a concept car strutting its stuff, the Visual Studio 2010 Concept IDE is packed with over-the-top features and weird ideas. Tame as it may look, this UI designed for one thing: jamming out code. Save the bizarre Windows Media-esque skins for the punks, we’ve got work to do.

Here it is:

Image 1

Concept One: The Solution Explorer (green box)

Solution Explorer

The green box at top left clearly identifies the name of the solution and provides two nice summary stats: total type count and total source line count.

Click the green arrow to slide out a panel providing full configuration options for the solution.

Image 3

Concept Two: Assembler (yellow box)

Add, remove or build assemblies from the Assembler. Display assemblies in alphabetical or build order. Build individual assemblies by clicking the build number on the right. The shaded circles indicate the number of code files in the assembly - with darker colors indicating a greater number of files.

Assembler

Click the yellow arrow to slide out a panel replete with assembly configuration dream tools.

Image 5

Concept Three: CodeFile Crawler (blue box)

CodeFile Crawler

You’ve got exactly one jillion code files in your assembly, right? Use the Crawler to find the one you need to work on next. Search by type, type name, namespace or use the root feature to select a root type - the Crawler will then find all referenced types down to level zero. If that’s too many types, use the Level Cutter to limit the results to a given level.

Concept Four: Head (color-coded area above the editor)

Image 7

After you select a type in the Crawler, the type name and relevant stats are displayed in the Head. Of course, the stats update as you code.

Concept Five: Remoting Eye (large circular icon in the head)

Remoting Eye

Of course you’re pair programming – the eye tells you so. Whenever the eye is displayed, your programming partner’s computer is connected to the session. Click the eye and select “Pass The Baton” to send a current copy, the diffs, or checkout the same files from your partner's computer (whatever your version control system wants to do) and then switch your UI into remote mode.

Concept Six: Click Strip (directly above of the editor)

Image 9

All types referenced by the currently selected type are displayed in the strip, just click them to view the code file for that type.

Concept Seven: Ashes (gray box)

Ashes

On the right, the code files which have been selected in the past, along with summary stats indicating the amount of work done on each are listed. Enter the first few letters of a code file into the Filter box at the top to jump to an entry.

Concept Eight: Floating Run Button

Image 11

Vertically centered to the right of the method in which the caret is currently positioned is the floating run button. It builds and runs the application (just like F5).

Concept Nine: Floating Search and Replace

Floating Search And Replace

The giant magnifying glass at the top corner of the editor indicates that the poor man’s refactoring tool is within easy reach. Yes it does all the standard search and replace stuff.

Concept Ten: Greenboard

Image 13

The Greenboard is a popup window displayed when the floating run button is clicked. Each assembly to be built is accompanied by a bar graph, proportionally sized based on the amount of source in the assembly. Error messages are collected at the bottom of the board. If an assembly fails to build, the Greenboard automatically closes and the Error Trap is displayed.

Concept Eleven: Error Trap

Image 14

The ErrorTrap appears when compilation fails. It makes for clear, quick identification of errors.

II. Debug

Click here to view the article with full size images.

In this second part of the Visual Studio 2010 Concept IDE article, we address debugging. Before we get started, let’s first use the shuttering system in the Concept IDE to make code king. Here all shutters have been collapsed, maximizing the code editor:

All shutters collapsed

Concept Twelve: Visual Breakpoint Conditions

Breakpoint conditions can now be entered directly into the editor, just click the small red arrow labeled “Condition” to slide out a panel below the breakpoint and code away. Conditions are persistent, that is, as long as the line of source where the breakpoint is defined exists, the condition for that line is remembered thereafter.

Visual Breakpoint

Concept Thirteen: Stepper

Hovering over the all-important line of code currently executing is the Stepper. This little navigator makes it easy to Step Into, Step Over or Step Out. It also enumerates the various property getters poised for resolution as of the current line. You can easily skip over these on your way into the method of interest, or step into them by clicking in the Stepper. Getters which contain anything beyond a simple return of a field value are marked with a special icon.

Stepper

Concept Fourteen: Minis

These generated diagrams form a map of the running application. See which objects are instantiated, which methods have been called and easily inspect object values. Minis, and the standards by which they are generated are discussed in detail here.

Minis

Concept Fifteen: Visual Stack

Minis give us the opportunity to present the stack as a diagram, with certain methods, property getters/setters or interface implementations “lit up” to show that they are currently receiving attention from the CPU. Click anywhere in the Mini and the source for that member is displayed in the Code Editor. Create Watch values by dragging from the Mini to the Watch window.

Visual Stack

Concept Sixteen: Object Dash

Click the small orange square at the top left of a Mini to display the Object Dash. This small watch window defaults to the field values in the object, but can be customized with code-based watches. The default values can be quickly removed by clicking the checkboxes on the left. Once you customize an Object Dash, those customizations are remembered per type. Object Dashes can also be launched from anywhere in the Debug UI where an object reference is displayed (for example the Call Stack, the Watch window, or the Code Editor itself) by placing your mouse over the reference and clicking Ctrl-Shift-O.

Object Dash

Concept Seventeen: LiveObjects

When the debugger hits a breakpoint, use the LiveObjects panel to view the currently existing objects.

Live Objects

Concept Eighteen: The Barge

The Barge is a list of all objects which have been garbage collected, including the amount of memory reclaimed. Reduce the noise in this list by right-clicking and filtering out delegates, attributes, collections or the descendants of any type.

Barge

Concept Nineteen: Origins

It’s definitely great to know which objects currently exist (LiveObjects) or have existed (the Barge). When the object counts look wrong and you need to know the methods where these objects were created, check the Origins panel. Double-click the method to display the source in the code editor.

Origins

Concept Twenty: Trax

From the moment you hit the floating run button, to the moment you shut down the application, the lines of code executed and the amount of CPU time consumed by each is tracked. Use the Trax Summary to locate the most time intensive or noisy methods. Select a method in the Summary and the SubTracker will show all time-intensive calls in that method. Click one of these calls in the SubTracker or the “bullet” in the Code Editor to continue drilling down. Trax also highlights each line of source that executed during the last run, making it easy to differentiate which lines executed from those lines which did not.

Trax

Your Turn

And that’s it. What about the Visual Forms Designer, Refactoring, UML, Tests, and that AI Buddy who codes everything for me? Won’t these gizmos be in there by 2010? Well, that’s where you come in. Suggest ways of bringing this UI forward even further, and we will incorporate the best in revisions of this article!

The Concepts Behind The Concept IDE

Edward R. Tuft-esque ideas in this IDE are:

The “look” of this IDE was inspired by the works of Edward R. Tufte. The editing area is white, drawing your attention to the focus of your work: the code. Color coding on the left divides the major areas, and clearly identifies them in the Head when they are selected (i.e. when the giant arrow is clicked.) Any name created by you is displayed in black. Any name which is part of the IDE is deemphasized. “Hard” separator lines have been avoided.

Alan Cooper-esque ideas in this IDE are:

Solid-State

Everything is saved, including the undo stacks of all code files, the last type selected, the ashes list, etc. Whether you unplug your computer from the wall, or orchestrate a nice agreeable Start | Turn Off sequence, the IDE looks exactly the same the next time you launch it.

Sovereign App

Designed to be maximized and used for hours at a time, this UI has understated controls and provides no distracting 3-D effects, save hot controls, which draw in an XP style when the mouse is over them. Affordance is provided through cursor hinting and hot control effects; expert users can “discover” functions as they go.

Putting Will Over Might

The jillion things a developer might want to do in the IDE have been relegated to dialogs and the menu. The few things that a developer will definitely need to do every day (or every minute) have been placed front center.

Links

  • About Face: Alan Cooper
  • The Visual Display of Quantitative Information: Edward R. Tufte

    Minis

    The Mini Object Diagram (click here to return to the article)

    Before you say “Not another diagramming standard!” please note that the DebugDiagrammer in the Concept IDE is pluggable and can be replaced with UML or your own custom diagrammer. The intent here is to visualize objects, not classes. Mini is short for Miniature, and the diagram is just that, literally a thumbnail showing the working internals of an object.



    The heart of the Mini diagram is a rectangle representing the object.

    Mini Object Rectangle

    Properties are represented by an ellipse.

    Mini Property Ellipse

    If a property implements a value type, it contains a tiny rectangle.

    Mini Property Value

    If a property implements a reference type, it contains a circle.

    Mini Property Reference

    The getter for a property is indicated by a shape on the left side of the ellipse.

    Mini Property Getter

    The setter for a property is indicated by a shape on the right side of the ellipse.

    Mini Property Reference With Setter

    When a getter or setter contains any code beyond a simple return or assignment of the field value, a line is drawn from the enclosed shape to the edge of the ellipse. Here is an example of a read/write property with code in the getter.

    Mini Property Reference With Code

    Methods are indicated by rounded rectangles.

    Mini Methods

    Tiny squares are used to represent the parameters of the method.

    Mini Methods With Parameters

    Methods with more than three parameters use an ellipsis in place of the third square.

    Mini Methods With Parameter Ellipsis

    Interfaces are shown at the top left via a prong-like symbol.

    Mini Interface

    Events are displayed at the bottom via an outlet-like shape. The down arrow inside the shape represents the delegate used to implement the event.

    Mini Event

    Fields containing value types are represented by tiny rectangles – these look almost like a hyphen.

    Mini Value Field

    Fields containing objects (reference types) are displayed as circles.

    Mini Object Field

    Constructors appear at the top left. Like methods, these shapes contain tiny squares representing any parameters.

    Mini Constructor

    A Destructor, if declared, is displayed as a grey rectangle immediately below the last constructor.

    Mini Destructor

    The scope and visibility of the various object parts is indicated by the location in the Mini. Public properties appear on the left, with the left tip of the ellipse protruding.

    Mini Public Properties

    Public methods appear on the right, with the right edge of the rectangle protruding.

    Mini Public Methods

    Public events appear at the bottom, with the “outlet” protruding.

    Mini Public Events

    To display a watch window specific to the Mini, click the orange button.

    Mini Dash

    Static, private and protected members are displayed in special regions inside the Mini. Here we have a Mini with a static region, a private region and a protected region. The static region at the top contains fields. The private region in the middle contains fields and methods. The protected region near the bottom contains methods and properties.

    Mini Placement

    Where the implementation of an object is split between a class and its ancestor, a Mini is drawn above with an inheritance triangle at its base. Here you can see the stack arcing through the ancestor to the descendent implementation.

    Mini Ancestry

    Click here to return to the article.

  • License

    This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

    A list of licenses authors might use can be found here


    Written By
    CEO Sagerion, LLC
    United States United States
    I read About Face by Alan Cooper in 1995 and immediately recognized it as a founding document for the future of software. I also recognized we had a long, long way to go - and yes, even with the advent of iOS, we are still not there yet.

    At my company, Sagerion (say-jair-ee-on), we can take a look at your planned or existing software and suggest ways of making it better - lots better. We can develop down-to-the-pixel blueprints showing exactly what our suggestions mean. We can help manage on-going development to make sure the top-notch user-experience we've suggested really does get built. Now, honestly, how often have you ever seen all those things happen?

    You may or may not already have great development going on - but what does that matter if you don't have great design driving it?

    Feel free to contact me at tom@sagerion.com, I would love to hear about your next ground-breaking project.

    Written By
    Founder Sagerion LLC
    United States United States
    www.filoshare.com
    -It is a fresh and free distributed source control system.

    Comments and Discussions

     
    GeneralRe: Look and Feel Pin
    Tom Ollar15-Jun-05 15:00
    Tom Ollar15-Jun-05 15:00 
    GeneralRe: Look and Feel Pin
    tonkster200315-Jun-05 22:28
    tonkster200315-Jun-05 22:28 
    GeneralThe Suggestion List Pin
    Tom Ollar10-Jun-05 5:42
    Tom Ollar10-Jun-05 5:42 
    GeneralWhat do you want to do today? Pin
    davidofmorris10-Jun-05 12:21
    davidofmorris10-Jun-05 12:21 
    GeneralRe: What do you want to do today? Pin
    Tom Ollar10-Jun-05 14:58
    Tom Ollar10-Jun-05 14:58 
    GeneralLet me try this then Pin
    davidofmorris11-Jun-05 9:09
    davidofmorris11-Jun-05 9:09 
    GeneralRe: Let me try this then Pin
    Tom Ollar11-Jun-05 12:13
    Tom Ollar11-Jun-05 12:13 
    GeneralSource Insight Pin
    riscy9-Jun-05 19:42
    riscy9-Jun-05 19:42 
    This is very interesting, but does not say much how the code is edited, take a look into Source Insight which enable method view at the bottom while working on mainstream code.

    I believe code editing technology should progress further with innovative new concept to make it smarter and faster to code a method or such.

    Please also bear in mind, that in the future 2010 that we have much larger screen of two or three flat screen monitor (or perhaps a virtual 3D display type), so we have much more space to work onto. It important not to assume one screen only. My friend programmer is using dual screen and found it much easier to handle complex project. Graphic card already has dual ports.

    It was a pity that Source Insight do not support interactive help automatically like VS .net 2003. It seem they stopped enchancing the product for a while....


    GeneralRe: Source Insight Pin
    Jim Bennett10-Jun-05 6:06
    Jim Bennett10-Jun-05 6:06 
    GeneralDistributed compiling Pin
    Owen Lawrence9-Jun-05 10:50
    Owen Lawrence9-Jun-05 10:50 
    GeneralRe: Distributed compiling Pin
    Jim Bennett10-Jun-05 5:51
    Jim Bennett10-Jun-05 5:51 
    GeneralGreat to see you two still active Pin
    gholbrook9-Jun-05 9:55
    gholbrook9-Jun-05 9:55 
    GeneralRe: Great to see you two still active Pin
    Jim Bennett9-Jun-05 17:18
    Jim Bennett9-Jun-05 17:18 
    QuestionWhy a Code editor? Pin
    Andromeda Shun8-Jun-05 21:18
    Andromeda Shun8-Jun-05 21:18 
    AnswerRe: Why a Code editor? Pin
    Tom Ollar9-Jun-05 5:59
    Tom Ollar9-Jun-05 5:59 
    GeneralHalf of them here don't get it Pin
    Member 10384338-Jun-05 1:10
    Member 10384338-Jun-05 1:10 
    GeneralRe: Half of them here don't get it Pin
    Tom Ollar8-Jun-05 13:22
    Tom Ollar8-Jun-05 13:22 
    Generaldid you... Pin
    Chris Hockenberry7-Jun-05 13:22
    Chris Hockenberry7-Jun-05 13:22 
    GeneralRe: did you... Pin
    Jim Bennett7-Jun-05 14:18
    Jim Bennett7-Jun-05 14:18 
    GeneralYikes!!!! Pin
    rittjc7-Jun-05 12:01
    rittjc7-Jun-05 12:01 
    GeneralRe: Yikes!!!! Pin
    Tom Ollar7-Jun-05 12:50
    Tom Ollar7-Jun-05 12:50 
    GeneralSlightly off-topic Pin
    Pete O'Hanlon6-Jun-05 23:27
    subeditorPete O'Hanlon6-Jun-05 23:27 
    GeneralRe: Slightly off-topic Pin
    Jim Bennett7-Jun-05 5:48
    Jim Bennett7-Jun-05 5:48 
    GeneralRe: Slightly off-topic Pin
    Pete O'Hanlon8-Jun-05 2:04
    subeditorPete O'Hanlon8-Jun-05 2:04 
    GeneralRe: Slightly off-topic Pin
    Jim Bennett8-Jun-05 5:28
    Jim Bennett8-Jun-05 5:28 

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