Re: [Hx] BBEdit 15 Adds ChatGPT, Minimap, Cheat Sheets, and More
voyer@keganlaw.com daniel@keganlaw.com
On Jan 12, 2024, at 10:18 AM, TidBITS <sup...@tidbits.com> wrote:
ADAM ENGST BBEdit 15 Adds ChatGPT, Minimap, Cheat Sheets, and More
It’s always interesting to see what features and enhancements Bare Bones Software comes up with for BBEdit, given that the venerable text editor has been evolving for over 33 years. For the major BBEdit 15 update now shipping, the company implemented additions and refinements that have the potential to help your workflow.
ChatGPT Worksheets
The most significant new feature—at least from the trendiness standpoint—is the addition of ChatGPT worksheets that extend the concept of BBEdit’s Shell worksheets that let you chat with the Unix shell. With ChatGPT worksheets, accessed from the File > New menu, you can have conversations with ChatGPT directly within the BBEdit worksheet, with each response appearing directly under your prompt. (As with Shell worksheets, press Enter or Control-Return to send your command to the ChatGPT API.) You can copy suggested lines for pasting into your code (use Text > Strip Quotes first) and continue the conversation until you get what you want.
Interacting with ChatGPT requires a ChatGPT account and an API key. Note that API access is separate from OpenAI’s interactive ChatGPT subscription. Although OpenAI charges for API requests, Bare Bones doesn’t earn any money from the feature. All queries and responses are transmitted directly between BBEdit and OpenAI, so Bare Bones never sees your conversations.
I’m bullish about the utility of generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help write code. Unlike regular conversations, where you don’t expect the other person to make stuff up or get facts completely wrong, programming is an iterative process of making mistakes and fixing them until everything works correctly. I’ve found that writing AppleScripts with ChatGPT is fairly similar to the back-and-forth necessary when working with another person. TidBITS editor Glenn Fleishman recently built a website for an upcoming book by leaning on the interactive form of ChatGPT 4 to help with his rusty and outdated HTML, CSS, and JavaScript knowledge. He could describe specific page layouts and interactive features, and ChatGPT’s code typically worked with little or no modification.
I recommend programmer James Somers’s thoughtful article on this topic in the New Yorker.
