Things I am super excited about today include

[maradydd]

Waking up with a solution in mind for a leftover bug from last night's hacking session, getting it implemented within ten minutes of being sufficiently caffeinated to work, and discovering that one of the subsequent items on my TODO is actually as simple as I thought it would be.

Comments

[digitalsidhe]

It's been a long time since I've actually dreamt in code. I have something of a mixed reaction to doing so; on the one hand, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I can do that. On the other hand, it's invariably a sign that I'm working extremely excessively hard on something, and should really relax.

I'm less disturbed by that when it's a project for myself rather than an employer. Luckily, the last couple of times have been personal projects.

(And yes, I note that you didn't specify that you dreamt code. It was just the first tangent that came to mind.)

[maradydd]

I'm not sure I've actually dreamt in code, though I have worked out algorithms in dreams.

In this case, I woke up when the bells rang and the first coherent thought I had was a resolution to the bug. I'd been up late hacking with a local friend on a joint project that we're working on for fun, and have now resolved every TODO item before we get together for the next round. Good times.

[digitalsidhe]

I have, on occasion, actually dreamed in code. Usually, for me, this takes the form of dreaming that I'm writing the code in question; this may be by typing, but it may also be by sort of fluttering my fingers in the air to sort of generate and "shape" the code. I indent sections by giving them a light but firm rap on the left side, nudging them in a notch. It's kind of cool; I can really feel the indentation levels.

When I wake up from such a dream, I can't remember all the exact details of the code, but I can remember the shape of it well enough to be able to sit down and type out the real thing. It's sort of like what I've produced (or what I remember) is pseudocode. It's enough to show me what needs to be done and how.

[maradydd]

When I get round to building the chording mouse, that indentation gesture absolutely has to be incorporated into an IDE or editor. I'd do it as an Eclipse plugin if I didn't have such a like-hate relationship with the plugin system. Maybe it could be done in elisp.

[digitalsidhe]

Hey! I just remembered where this gesture comes from! Ever used a manual typewriter? It's the gesture for "carriage return", only with not quite as great a travel distance.

Let me know if you want more explanation.

Glad I finally figured that out; it's been subconsciously bothering me since I typed my earlier comment.

[maradydd]

I can see that! I used to play with my mom's manual typewriter when I was a kid -- it was a "portable", which meant that the whole thing fit into a little suitcase and probably weighed ten kilos. But yes, it had the big carriage return lever.

For indenting code I'd want to be able to indent entire blocks at once, but that should be as simple as selecting a block (click-drag to highlight?) and then "pushing" it over. Maybe with the little wrist-flip that the carriage return uses; that should be fairly easy to capture with an accelerometer.