Learn these keyboard shortcuts ...

... for better TextMate project window management.

First, open Keyboard.prefPane and map Control-Command-Z (^⌘Z) to "Zoom". (Detailed instructions can be found here, and the example he uses is this exact shortcut, in case you weren't convinced this is the right thing to do.)

Now open up a project in TextMate so that you've got the project drawer showing.

Ready? Here's your new keyboard calisthenic routine.

• Control-Option-Command-D (^⌥⌘D or "mash D") to Hide Project Drawer
• Control-Command-Z (^⌘Z) to Zoom the editor window to fill the screen
• Control-Command-Z (^⌘Z) again to Zoom the editor window back to a size that can accommodate the project drawer
• Control-Option-Command-D (^⌥⌘D or "mash D") again to Show Project Drawer
• Option-Command-Backtick (⌥⌘`) to move focus to the drawer
• Option-Down (⌥↓) to jump to the bottom of the drawer
• Option-up (⌥↑) to jump to the top of the drawer
• Option-Command-Backtick (⌥⌘`) again to move focus back to the editor
• Again! Faster!

UPDATE: Note that the second Control-Command-Z (^⌘Z), while excellent exercise, isn't really necessary. TextMate will automatically zoom out the window if you ask for the project drawer and there isn't any room for it. Sweet!

A Ruby Metaprogramming Introduction Updated

Update: The Rspec conversion is done, and I added a section demonstrating macro methods. Read the latest here.

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Early last year I published A Ruby Metaprogramming Introduction on the Practical Ruby blog. Earlier this year while commuting back and forth between Grand Central and White Plains—not a place you should strive to commute to, though MetroNorth is far better than the subway for giving you room to work on a laptop—I started making refinements and converting it to use Rspec instead of custom Test::Unit extensions.

I put it aside for a while but am now resolved to continue work on it. I've just put that work onto Github, so anyone with an interest can take a look, browse history, and even submit suggested patches.

The project is located here:
http://github.com/duelinmarkers/metaprogramming_introduction/tree

If you're annoyed at the half-Rspec state of things, you can read the originally published version in this tree. (It's way prettier as rendered on Github than I could probably manage to get it on any blog.)