Add a "vision" document. #657
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| * **Modal.** Vim is a great idea. | ||
| * **Selection -> Action**, not Object -> Verb. Interaction models aren't linguistics, and "selection first" lets you see what you're doing (among other benefits). | ||
| * **We aren't playing code golf.** It's more important for the keymap to be consistent and easy to memorize than it is to save a key stroke or two when editing. |
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We should say "we want useful keys". We would still want low keystrokes but only if they are easier to press.
docs/vision.md
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| Vision statements are all well and good, but are also vague and subjective. Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of some of Helix's more concrete goals, to help give a clearer idea of the project's direction: | ||
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| * **Modal.** Vim is a great idea. | ||
| * **Selection -> Action**, not Object -> Verb. Interaction models aren't linguistics, and "selection first" lets you see what you're doing (among other benefits). |
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This shouldn't be a goal. This is a technical detail on how we achieve the goal. We do have some parts that do Action -> Selection like change around.
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I mean, to some extent these are all details. Ultimately, the real goal should be "build a good editor", and everything else is just details in pursuit of that.
I guess instead of "goals", we could call this section "things that have already been decided on". But I don't know if that makes a meaningful difference.
We do have some parts that do Action -> Selection like change around.
Sure. But this isn't talking about literally every single command. Rather, it's talking about the over-all interaction model of Helix. Vim also has a few Selection -> Action commands, such as selecting text and then pressing d. But over-all its interaction model is still considered to be Verb -> Object.
(Incidentally, I just noticed a horrible typo: I meant to write Verb -> Object in the first place, ha ha. I'll fix that.)
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So, just to be clear, I didn't come up with this document out-of-the blue or single-handedly. It's the result of a discussion with @archseer, who gave draft approval before I submitted the PR. That doesn't mean we can't change things before merging, of course. But I just want to be clear that I'm not trying to dictate the vision of the project, here, ha ha. :-) On the contrary, I did my best to reflect @archseer's vision for the project. It would be a somewhat different document if it were my personal vision. |
Caught in PR review. Thanks!
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There also seem to be double spaces after each period, is this intentional? |
My understanding is that in monospace typesetting double spaces are stylistically "correct", and in proportional typesetting single spaces are stylistically "correct". So in markdown I tend to do double spaces, since when viewed directly is usually monospace, and when rendered is generally turned into html which ignores the second space anyway. But I don't feel strongly about it. I'm happy to change it to single-space if people prefer. It's ultimately just stylistic preference. |
People have asked what Helix's vision/direction is, so hopefully this can be something we can point them to when that comes up.