Quality Coding vs. Quick Coding

[Kernel]

Recently I needed to work on a Java coding project, which regular readers will know is not my favorite thing to do.



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[WingedPanther]

Weird, this started as a rant on the inadequacy of Java IDEs, and turned into a warning against the pitfalls of complacency with Visual Studio... not sure which he meant for it to be.

As somebody who works with both RAD tools and non-RAD tools, I have to say I think many coders over-estimate the value of some of the RAD tools. I use Delphi/Lazarus rather than VS, but have found that RAD can really get you in trouble. Nothing screams amateur like having a beautiful form, and when your user resizes it, none of the components adjust to the new size. By contrast, when you have to hand code something (ASP/ColdFusion for me), you suddenly find yourself taking far less for granted.

The thing I find most interesting is I use jEdit for much of my Delphi coding. Powerful regular expression support and improved syntax highlighting are far more valuable to me than Intellisense. I was shocked, recently, when I was helping a VB2008 coder and I discovered that VS2008 has limited support for regular expressions! When you can't effectively turn a few database columns into functioning code with ease, it gets frustrating.