Date: 2012-11-03 15:25:29 Created: 2012-11-03 10:58:51
I am about to go on a trip, and I am hitting peak "debating whether to bring laptop to be able to satisfy possible sudden coding urges". My tablet will come, but I can not code most of the things I might like on it in any effective manner.
To me, this is a point arguing both for creative on-tablet development tools, and against becoming dependent on certain tools to develop.
I love the thought of being able to go on coding anything on my iPad, but not for a second would I want it to work as if I was in front of a traditional PC. I want to be able to work on the same things, but not in the same way.
One way this can be approached is to scale back on tools and move toward basics. The closer you get to being alone with text, the more repeatable the experience becomes on a tablet. I can write anywhere on anything, and I love doing so. It also feels like a very clean experience: just my text and I with only a thin sheet of glass between us.
On the other hand, this is 2012. Why is there so much typing and text involved in coding?
Relating to platform independence, I think this is me wanting to be a platform independent coder. I want to be able to sit down and be creative on any system, not get stuck yearning for or setting up my favorite IDE in just the right way. My ideas and I can go anywhere, and that is so much more important than the exact tools I use to process ideas.