TextBricks
A multi-editor extension providing structured programming templates for multiple languages (C, Python, JavaScript) to help beginners learn programming efficiently.
🚀 Version 0.2.5 - UI/UX improvements! Fixed template card display issues, optimized responsive layout, improved template visibility and scrolling behavior. Enhanced user experience with better visual hierarchy and content accessibility.
✨ Features
🌐 Multi-Language Support
- C - Traditional system programming language
- Python - Modern, beginner-friendly language
- JavaScript - Web development and scripting
- Easy language switching with integrated selector
🎯 Flexible Topic System
Templates organized with complete customization freedom:
- Customizable Topics - Create your own topic names like "基礎概念", "網頁開發", "演算法"
- Semantic Organization - Use meaningful names instead of rigid level numbers
- Educational Flexibility - Perfect for educators to create course-specific topics
- Project-Based Organization - Developers can organize templates by project needs
- Unlimited Scalability - No more artificial 4-level restrictions
Example Topic Organizations:
- For Beginners: "基礎", "控制", "函數", "進階"
- For Web Development: "HTML結構", "CSS樣式", "JavaScript互動", "React組件"
- For Algorithms: "排序", "搜尋", "動態規劃", "圖形演算法"
🚀 Easy Code Insertion
- Click to Insert - Click template cards to insert code directly into your editor
- Drag to Insert - Drag templates into your active editor window
- Smart Indentation - Automatic indentation matching your editor's context
- Interactive Preview - Hover to see code preview with copy/insert options
- Multi-Editor Support - Works seamlessly across different code editors
📖 Documentation System
- Rich Documentation - Detailed explanations for complex templates
- Interactive Code Blocks - Insert specific code portions from documentation
- Smart Selection - Select and insert only the parts you need
🔧 Multi-Editor Support
- VS Code - Full-featured extension with rich UI (✅ Available)
- Vim/NeoVim - Command-line integration (🔄 Coming Soon)
- Sublime Text - Plugin support (🔄 Planned)
- Other Editors - Extensible architecture for future support
🧠 Intelligent Features
- Template Recommendations - Context-aware suggestions based on usage
- Smart Copy - Automatic fallback to clipboard when editor unavailable
- Template Management - Create, edit, import/export templates with validation
- Enhanced Search - Advanced filtering, sorting, and suggestion capabilities
- Data Validation - Comprehensive template and import data validation
🚀 Quick Start
Installation
VS Code (Current)
- Install from VS Code Marketplace
- Reload VS Code
- Find TextBricks in the Activity Bar
Other Editors (Coming Soon)
- Vim/NeoVim: Plugin installation via package managers
- Sublime Text: Package Control integration
- Manual Installation: Download from GitHub Releases
Basic Usage (VS Code)
- Open a code file (
.c, .py, .js, etc.)
- Open TextBricks panel from the activity bar
- Select your language using the language selector (🌐)
- Browse templates by topic
- Click templates to insert or drag to editor
- Check recommendations (⭐ section) for personalized suggestions
Usage in Other Editors
Support for additional editors is under development with the same core functionality adapted to each editor's interface.
Smart Indentation
- Auto-adjusts to your cursor position
- Preserves structure of nested code
- Handles empty lines intelligently
- Consistent behavior across all insertion methods
Documentation
- Hover templates to see preview tooltips
- Click 📖 icon for detailed documentation
- Interactive blocks - click to insert specific code portions
- Full Markdown support with syntax highlighting
📋 Commands
TextBricks: Open TextBricks Manager - Launch template management interfaceTextBricks: Create Template - Quick template creation with validationTextBricks: Import Templates - Import from JSON files with comprehensive validationTextBricks: Export Templates - Export to JSON format with metadataTextBricks: Search Templates - Advanced search with filtering and sortingTextBricks: Validate Template - Validate current file against template standardsTextBricks: Refresh Templates - Reload template dataTextBricks: Show Documentation - View template documentation
📚 Template Examples
C - Hello World
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
printf("Hello, World!\\n");
return 0;
}
Python - For Loop
for i in range(10):
print(f"Number: {i}")
JavaScript - Function
function greet(name) {
return `Hello, ${name}!`;
}
console.log(greet("World"));
⚙️ Configuration
Access settings via File > Preferences > Settings > Extensions > TextBricks:
- Language Preference - Default language selection
- Indentation Settings - Customize indentation behavior
- Recommendation Engine - Enable/disable smart suggestions
- Documentation Display - Control documentation panel behavior
🛠️ Template Management
Creating Templates
- Use
TextBricks: Create Template command
- Or create via TextBricks Manager interface
- Support for custom topics and documentation
Import/Export
- Import: JSON files with template collections and comprehensive validation
- Export: Share your templates with others including metadata and topics
- Format: Structured JSON with enhanced metadata support and error handling
- Validation: Automatic validation of imported data with detailed error reporting
Organization
- Flexible Topics: Create unlimited custom topic names for perfect organization
- Semantic Naming: Use meaningful topic names instead of artificial level numbers
- Educational Support: Perfect for creating course-specific topic structures
- Project Organization: Organize templates by development project needs
- Tags: Add searchable metadata for enhanced discoverability
- Documentation: Rich Markdown descriptions with interactive code blocks
🐛 Troubleshooting
Common Issues
- Templates not showing: Try
TextBricks: Refresh Templates
- Indentation problems: Check your editor tab/space settings
- Insert not working: Ensure you have an active editor
- Language not detected: Manually select language in panel
Reporting Issues
- Include VS Code and extension version
- Describe steps to reproduce
- Check GitHub Issues
🔧 What's New in v0.2.4
🏗️ Major Architecture Improvements
- Modular Manager System: Separated platform-independent business logic into specialized managers (ImportExportManager, SearchManager, ValidationManager)
- Unified Command Service: Consolidated all command handling with integrated validation and enhanced error handling
- Code Cleanup: Removed 200+ lines of unimplemented features and over-designed interfaces for a cleaner, more maintainable codebase
- Platform Abstraction: Enhanced separation between UI layer (VSCode) and business logic (Core) for future multi-editor support
✨ Enhanced Features
- Advanced Search: Improved search capabilities with filtering, sorting, and intelligent suggestions
- Comprehensive Validation: Template and import data validation with detailed error reporting
- Flexible Topic System: Revolutionary topic system replacing rigid level-based categorization with customizable topic names
- Custom Topics: Create meaningful topic names like "基礎概念", "網頁開發", "演算法" instead of generic levels
- Enhanced UI: Cleaner interface without level badges, focusing on content and semantic organization
- Error Handling: Enhanced error handling and user feedback throughout the application
🎯 Developer Benefits
- Cleaner Architecture: Easier to maintain, test, and extend
- Type Safety: Complete TypeScript interfaces for all new components
- Future-Ready: Prepared for hierarchical topics and cross-platform expansion
- Better Performance: Optimized code structure and reduced complexity
🤝 Contributing
We welcome contributions! See our GitHub repository for:
- Source code and multi-editor development
- Issue reporting and bug fixes
- Feature requests for new editors
- Documentation improvements
- Template contributions for all languages
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
Made with ❤️ for programming learners
Happy coding with TextBricks! 🧱✨
