Not if the IDE isn't their regular development environment. Color highlighting actually slows me down, and in virtually every editor that has it, it can't be disabled. Its mostly due to my visual deficiencies, but its an issue nevertheless.alvinphp wrote:I am not saying that a person that uses an IDE knows more then one that likes a plain text editor. I am saying that if you have 2 people with the same skills (and both know how to code without the debugger) the one that uses an IDE will code faster then the one that uses the text editor.
Each person has an environment they are most used to, and most proficient in. Taking them out of that will always reduce their proficiency - not increase it as you claim.
An easier argument to make would be that an IDE can improve the efficiency of most programmers.
By avoiding general statements ("will") that apply to all situations, you can avoid impossible debates. Just a tip.
Not to mention, I'm one of those annoying people that tends to break most of the molds, providing a tidy exception to most sweeping/over-broad statements. (And one of the people likely to call it out).
Also keep in mind that your statements come from the point of view of using an IDE. You've stated that you've used both Eclipse and Zend, so clearly, you have some comfort level there - which reinforces your opinion that people code faster in one, because you code faster in one.
Its not true for everyone, and I'd say the "twice as fast" argument is extremely weak.
Lets focus on whether people have used Zend, and if they like it. I think thats a much more useful discussion.
