Hello all,
My name is Stephen Weiler, i a currently an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. I am pursuing a major of Computer Engineering. I have already passed my first Comp. science class that taught the basics of java coding, and am currently excelling in my next computer science class. Both of these classes have been a walk in the park because i actually taught myself java basics a few years ago on my own time. I have been an eclipse user for a few years now and have always tried to take advantage of the assist\checker plug-ins. They make coding java much easier and simpler. In my last class, i was required to code in BlueJ, and the transition from eclipse to BlueJ was quite difficult. I missed all the usability that i took for granted in eclipse. Being familiar with eclipse myself, i have come up with a few ideas on improvements on this plugin, including pattern recognition and more. My main idea is when creating an array of whatever type required, having the option of importing a section of code that prompts the user for each element in the array. For example, when coding
int[] arr = new int[15];
the line is highlighted and if you click the line, it will automatically import
for(int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("What would you like to add to the array? ");
arr[i] = in.nextInt();
}
On top of that, it will automatically import "java.util.*;" so that the scanner object is recognized as a scanner.
Another idea i have for the plug-in is an automatic semicolon. Many times in my code, i will forget a semicolon or, when using parenthesis/brackets, i would accidentally add a semicolon inside them rather than outside. Using the previous example for this example,
for(int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("What would you like to add to the array? ";)
arr[i] = in.nextInt();
}
If you look at the system printout. This would not run because the end code line is not established properly. This is because inside of eclipse, if you type one side of brackets or parenthesis, it will automatically enter the second one. being someone who tends to just type my code without relooking at it every line, i tend to semicolon after typing a line so if the plugin were to recognize the that the semicolon was meant to be on the outside then it will move it.
Although these are only two of my ideas, i have plenty more just like them. many of these improvements would benefit any beginner or advanced coder. I have recently asked many of my classmates what there thoughts are on these ideas and they all agree they would greatly help them.
Please let me know how i should go about this proposal and what is important to note.
Thank you for your time,
Stephen Weiler
