roryirvine 8 days ago

Sure, but in those days spellcheckers were separate apps - the most popular at the time being CorrectStar from MicroPro.

They weren't integrated into programming-oriented editors, and it would have been unusual to run them against code.

  • 3836293648 8 days ago

    I still haven't seen anyone using a spellchecker in code outside of IntelliJ

    • mindcrime 8 days ago

      Eclipse has had an integrated spell-checker, which I believe is on by default for most file types, for like approximately forever. Now maybe everybody turns it off, but I gotta imagine there are some people who like it and keep it on.

    • dhosek 8 days ago

      Emacs has the ability to do spellcheck inline, both as a run through the buffer (old-school style) and as an as-you-type live feature. That said, I do most of my coding in JetBrains IDEs these days.

    • freedomben 8 days ago

      For Vim/Neovim users, there is one built in that is pretty good, and once you've added frequent custom words to the dictionary it is great. You can turn it on with `:set spell` or off with `:set nospell`. Add custom words by pressing `zg` on the target word:

      I have this in my vimrc file so it's on by default for certain file types:

          " Turn on spellcheck for certain filetypes and word completion.                                                                                                                                                                               
          " words can be added to the dict by pressing 'zg' with cursor on word.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
          autocmd Filetype markdown setlocal spell                                                                                                                                                                                                      
          autocmd Filetype gitcommit setlocal spell                                                                                                                                                                                                     
          set complete+=kspell                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
          " Don't highlight in red an underscore (_) in markdown                                                                                                                                                                                        
          " https://vi.stackexchange.com/q/18471/17441                                                                                                                                                                                                  
          autocmd Filetype markdown syn match markdownIgnore "\v\w_\w"
      
      Custom additions to the dictionary will go to a simple text file (one word per line) in `~/.vim/spell/en.utf-8.add` (depending on your settings) where it is easy to edit or backup.
      • porridgeraisin 6 days ago

        > custom additions

        You can also add it directly when using it. Move the cursor to the word and (I forget the command...) can add it as a rare word, good word or bad word.

jimbob45 8 days ago

The best programmers I’ve known have all been deficient at spelling. I don’t know why it so uniformly appears among them.

  • ptspts 7 days ago

    Absolutely not true about the best programmers I know.

  • themadturk 8 days ago

    Humans in general, even writers, are deficient at spelling. This is the reason we need spellcheckers.

    • psychoslave 8 days ago

      I am far more confident at spelling any Esperanto word that I have never faced before than I am with many common word in French which is my native language.

      We can do better than blaming people for falling in pitfalls of a system full of odd traps.

      • themadturk 5 days ago

        Of course you are; Esperanto is a manufactured language designed to a certain standard; French, like our unfortunate English, is naturally evolved and has all the variants and inconsistencies that implies.