Enhance Godot Editor Make Hover Tooltips Appear Everywhere

The Godot Engine is a powerful open-source game engine that provides a comprehensive set of tools for game development. One of the key aspects of efficient game development is a well-designed code editor that offers features to help developers write and understand code more effectively. This article discusses a proposal to enhance the functionality of Godot's code editor by making hover tooltips appear not only on function calls but also on function declarations, thereby improving the overall coding experience.

The Current Limitation

Currently, Godot's code editor provides helpful hover tooltips when you hover over a function call. These tooltips display the function's description and any associated comments, providing a quick reference for the function's purpose and usage. This feature significantly aids in code comprehension and reduces the need to navigate to the function definition to understand its functionality.

However, a significant limitation exists: hover tooltips are not displayed when you hover over the function declaration itself. This means that developers must still manually navigate to the function definition to see its documentation, which can disrupt the coding workflow and increase the time it takes to understand and work with code. For instance, in a complex RTS game project, understanding the purpose and parameters of various functions is crucial, and the lack of tooltips on function declarations can be a notable hindrance.

The Impact on Workflow

The absence of hover tooltips on function declarations can particularly impact developers in several ways:

• Increased Navigation Time: Developers need to spend more time navigating between function calls and declarations to understand the code, slowing down the development process.
• Reduced Code Comprehension: Without immediate access to function documentation, understanding unfamiliar code or code written by others becomes more challenging.
• Higher Cognitive Load: Developers need to keep more information in their minds as they switch between different parts of the code, increasing the mental effort required for coding.

To address these issues, enhancing the functionality of hover tooltips to include function declarations is a logical and valuable improvement.

The Proposed Enhancement: Hover Tooltips on Function Declarations

The proposal suggests extending the functionality of hover tooltips in Godot's code editor to include function declarations. This enhancement would ensure that when a developer hovers the mouse over a function declaration, a tooltip appears displaying the function's description and comments, similar to how it currently works for function calls. This seemingly small change can significantly improve the coding experience by providing immediate access to function documentation directly within the code editor.

How This Enhancement Helps

Implementing hover tooltips on function declarations offers several key benefits:

• Improved Code Readability: Developers can quickly understand the purpose and parameters of a function without navigating away from the current context, leading to better code comprehension.
• Faster Development Workflow: Reducing the need to switch between function calls and declarations saves time and allows developers to focus on writing code rather than navigating it.
• Enhanced Learning Experience: Newcomers to a project or the Godot Engine itself can quickly grasp the functionality of different functions, making the learning curve less steep.
• Consistency in User Experience: Providing hover tooltips for both function calls and declarations creates a more consistent and intuitive user experience within the code editor.

Visualizing the Enhancement

Imagine you are working on a complex script and encounter a function declaration. Instead of needing to right-click and select “Go to Definition” or manually scroll through the code, you can simply hover your mouse over the function declaration, and a tooltip will appear, providing all the necessary information. This seamless integration of documentation directly into the code editor significantly streamlines the development process.

How the Proposal Would Work

The implementation of this enhancement can be achieved by modifying the code editor's tooltip system to recognize function declarations in addition to function calls. The code editor would need to parse the code to identify function declarations and extract any associated comments or documentation. When the mouse hovers over a function declaration, the system would then display this information in a tooltip.

Technical Implementation

The technical implementation would likely involve the following steps:

1. Code Parsing: The code editor's parsing mechanism would need to be updated to accurately identify function declarations within the code.
2. Documentation Extraction: Once a function declaration is identified, the system would extract any comments or documentation associated with the function. This might involve looking for comments immediately preceding the function declaration or using a documentation format like GDScript's built-in documentation system.
3. Tooltip Display: The extracted documentation would then be displayed in a tooltip when the mouse hovers over the function declaration. This would likely involve using the existing tooltip system within the code editor, ensuring a consistent look and feel.

Mock-Ups and Diagrams

Consider a scenario where a developer is working on a function called handle_input. Currently, hover tooltips are available when the function is called, but not when the function is declared. With the proposed enhancement, hovering over the function declaration func handle_input(event): would display a tooltip containing the function's description and any comments, providing immediate context without requiring additional navigation.

Why This Should Be a Core Feature

This enhancement is best implemented as a core feature of the Godot Engine for several reasons:

• Fundamental Code Editor Functionality: Hover tooltips are a fundamental part of a modern code editor, and providing them for both function calls and declarations ensures a complete and consistent experience.
• Improved User Experience: As a core feature, it would be available to all Godot users by default, improving the user experience for everyone.
• Performance and Integration: Implementing this as a core feature allows for deeper integration with the code editor, potentially leading to better performance and stability compared to an add-on.
• Consistency with Godot's Philosophy: Godot aims to provide a comprehensive set of tools for game development, and this enhancement aligns with that philosophy by improving the core coding experience.

Alternatives and Workarounds

While there are no direct workarounds that provide the same level of convenience as hover tooltips on function declarations, developers might use alternative methods such as:

• Manual Navigation: Using the “Go to Definition” feature or manually scrolling through the code to find the function declaration.
• External Documentation: Referencing external documentation or code documentation tools.

However, these methods are less efficient and disrupt the coding workflow compared to having immediate access to documentation via hover tooltips.

Conclusion

Enhancing Godot's code editor by making hover tooltips appear on function declarations is a valuable improvement that can significantly benefit developers. By providing immediate access to function documentation, this enhancement improves code readability, speeds up the development workflow, and enhances the overall coding experience. As a core feature, it ensures a consistent and intuitive user experience for all Godot users, aligning with Godot's philosophy of providing a comprehensive set of tools for game development. Implementing this proposal would be a significant step towards making Godot's code editor even more powerful and user-friendly.

By addressing the current limitation and providing a seamless way to access function documentation, Godot can continue to empower developers to create amazing games more efficiently and effectively. The inclusion of hover tooltips on function declarations is not just a minor improvement; it’s a crucial step towards a more intuitive and productive coding environment within the Godot Engine.