10 Tips to Master EiffelStudio FasterEiffelStudio is a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) tailored to the Eiffel programming language and its Design by Contract methodology. Whether you’re new to Eiffel or an experienced developer switching tools, mastering EiffelStudio will speed up development, improve code quality, and make working with contracts and agents more productive. Below are ten practical tips, each with concrete examples and steps you can apply immediately.
1. Learn the IDE layout and key windows
Familiarize yourself with EiffelStudio’s main panes: Project Explorer, Editor, Inspector, Callers/Implementers, and the Debugger. Knowing where information lives saves time.
- Open multiple views for the same class (right-click class → Open → Implementation/Specification).
- Use the Inspector to view attributes and routine contracts at a glance.
- Pin frequently used views to avoid reopening them.
2. Master keyboard shortcuts
Shortcuts dramatically reduce context switching.
- Use Ctrl+Shift+F (or the equivalent on your platform) for project-wide search.
- Navigate between classes with Ctrl+Tab.
- Bind frequently used actions (build, run, debug) to shortcuts in Preferences → Key Bindings.
Tip: Keep a cheat-sheet near your workspace until shortcuts become muscle memory.
3. Use Design by Contract effectively
Design by Contract (DbC) is central to Eiffel. Leveraging contracts (preconditions, postconditions, invariants) will catch bugs early.
- Write clear preconditions to document expected inputs and avoid defensive coding.
- Use postconditions to guarantee method results; this helps both documentation and runtime checks.
- Enable runtime contract checking during development (Project → Settings → Assertions) and disable or lower levels in production builds for performance.
Example:
deposit (amount: REAL) require amount_positive: amount > 0.0 do balance := balance + amount ensure balance_increased: balance > old balance end 4. Make the most of the Code Completion and Browsing features
EiffelStudio’s code completion and navigation help you write code more accurately and explore APIs quickly.
- Trigger completion (Ctrl+Space) to see available features, arguments, and contracts.
- Use “Open Declaration” to jump to the feature specification or class.
- Explore class hierarchies with the Callers/Implementers view to understand where features are used or overridden.
5. Configure builds and compiler options for speed
Tailor your build settings to balance fast edit-compile cycles and thorough checks.
- Use incremental compilation for faster edit-compile iterations.
- Customize assertion levels: full during development, lower in production.
- Exclude rarely changed libraries from frequent builds by organizing them as external clusters.
6. Debug smarter with assertions and the debugger
EiffelStudio’s debugger integrates well with contracts.
- When a contract fails, the debugger stops at the failing point. Inspect call stack, local variables, and evaluate expressions.
- Use breakpoints with conditions to stop only when specific situations arise.
- Watch expressions let you track variable changes over time.
Example: Set a conditional breakpoint on deposit to break when amount > 10000.
7. Use refactoring tools and automated renames
Refactoring tools preserve correctness while changing design.
- Rename classes, features, or clients using EiffelStudio’s refactor tools to update all references safely.
- Extract features or classes when a routine grows too complex to improve readability.
- Rely on the IDE’s static analysis to detect affected clients and potential breakages.
8. Leverage agents and higher-order programming
Agents (Eiffel’s function objects/closures) enable flexible design patterns.
- Use agents for callbacks, event handling, and deferred execution.
- Combine agents with agents tuples for flexible dispatch.
- Study common idioms (e.g., iteration with agents) to apply them in your codebase.
Example:
list.do_all (agent print_item) 9. Organize projects and clusters clearly
Good organization reduces friction when projects grow.
- Group related classes into clusters; separate libraries, tools, and application code.
- Keep a consistent naming scheme for clusters and classes.
- Use version control (Git) at the cluster or project root and configure .gitignore for generated artifacts.
10. Learn from the community and examples
Real-world code and community wisdom accelerate learning.
- Browse open-source Eiffel projects to see idiomatic usage of EiffelStudio features.
- Participate in mailing lists, forums, or community chats to ask questions and share tips.
- Read the Eiffel documentation and EiffelStudio tutorials to discover lesser-known features.
Conclusion
Becoming productive in EiffelStudio is a mix of learning the IDE, embracing Design by Contract, and using automation and tooling to maintain and evolve code safely. Start small: pick one or two tips to apply on your next coding session (for example, enable runtime contracts and learn three shortcuts). Over time these habits compound into significantly faster and more reliable development.
Leave a Reply