GUI and Rapid Application Development 1541

Copy-paste isn't diff, and it does not let you know what you've modified since the last version (or any past versions).

After using VC, I find me more confident in changing code, because I know the past checked-in versions won't be lost by my changes. Instead of commenting out large blocks of code (and keeping them there forever -- lest it'll be useful again sometime in future), I can simply skim them out. And I know when things don't proceed as expected, I can roll back easily. I sometimes make radical changes of code, try it out, and if it breaks so miserable that rolling back is better, I simply roll back. No need to make frequent backups.

Further, I have the habit of examining the diffs before checking in, so as to ensure that I'm really committing the changes I intend. I can make sure no silly things (such as testing-debug codes which one often forgets to remove) creeps into the checked-in versions. VC is a more useful thing than you can imagine beforehand. It increases productivity and quality.

Can you find files by regex patterns? Anything that comes close to the full capabilities of GNU 'find'?

Too bad that few people nowadays are exposed to the tag-and-process working model. I like it more than those "ctrl-click" selection method, as you can lose the selection easily by accidently clicking with ctrl-, and you can't maintain the selection there and do something else before coming back.

Emacs's directory browser extends the tag-and-process model (as in PCTools 5.1R) by allowing you to use different tags. Much more flexible and useful.

I don't like Tcl myself. That language is ugly and clumsy. It may be OK to write short programs (e.g. under 256 lines) in it. But I won't write large programs (over 1000 lines) with Tcl.

I like Perl more for rapid programming. That's why I recommend Perl-Tk. :)

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