Feedback on Chapter 2: The whole game

[jthomasmock]

Generally, is it worth namespacing all of the functions so that people know where they're coming from in this chapter? This is not as big of an issue since it's really devtools, usethis, testthat, as opposed to tidymodels or tidyverse where there are many packages. However, I know that working with newer learners they can get a bit confused when trying to do small components and may not have all the necessary packages loaded.

Section 2.4:

• The RStudio > More > Show Hidden files callout is confusing, the RStudio documentation refers to it as the "Files pane", whereas the file browser makes me thing of "Finder" in Mac OSX. I think it would be worth either explicitly describing it as the Files Pane, the More gear symbol, etc or adding a screenshot.
  • RStudio docs referring to show hidden files
  • It's also referred to as "Files pane" later on in the chapter

    What’s in this new directory that is also an R package and, probably, an RStudio Project? Here’s a listing (locally, you can consult your Files pane):

• the hello.R file is not mentioned in this chapter and I remember creating my first package years ago and getting into a weird state with document() + pkgdown when I didn't delete this file early. Overall, I think it's worth mentioning it exists and to delete it.

Section 2.8:

1. Note that load_all() has made the strsplit1() function available, although it does not exist in the global environment.

   [exists](https://rdrr.io/r/base/exists.html)("strsplit1", where = [globalenv](https://rdrr.io/r/base/environment.html)(), inherits = FALSE)
   #> [1] FALSE

• Worth mentioning that RStudio will also throw a warning if you have defined a global function and then devtools::load_all()

  R> hello <- function(x){x + 1} R> devtools::load_all()

  ℹ Loading regexcite
  Warning message:
  
  ── Conflicts ────────────────────── regexcite conflicts ──
  ✖ hello() masks regexcite::hello()
  
  Did you accidentally source a file rather than using `load_all()`?
  Run `rm(list = c("hello"))` to remove the conflicts. 

2. In the "RStudio exposes load_all() callout, is it with adding when inside a R package? This is different when in RMarkdown/Quarto/blog/etc.

Section 2.10:

There is a great RStudio callout on ctrl + . - I checked and this is valid on all platforms. Not sure where it would be best to "live" in the book, but the command palette (ie Cmd + Shift + P) can also execute devtools and other RStudio package related commands. Might be worth having an appendix linking out to RStudio/package cheatsheets, RStudio command palette and shortcut documentation. Repeated similar suggestions below. Command palette hits all of the RStudio helpers in build pane and more!

Section 2.12

In the "RStudio exposes document()` callout, is it with adding when inside a R package? This is different when in RMarkdown/Quarto/blog/etc. Also same feedback, this is possible with Command Palette > "Document Package"

Section 2.14

In the "RStudio exposes install callout, is it with adding when inside a R package? This is different when in RMarkdown/Quarto/blog/etc. Also same feedback, this is possible with Command Palette > "Install Package"

Section 2.15

In the "RStudio exposes testthat callout, is it with adding when inside a R package? This is different when in RMarkdown/Quarto/blog/etc. Also same feedback, this is possible with Command Palette > "Test"

[jennybc]

Generally, is it worth namespacing all of the functions so that people know where they're coming from in this chapter?

My intention is to only call functions in devtools (or usethis, but devtools Depends on usethis and therefore attaches it). So I think we're OK.

I updated language re: how to toggle visibility of hidden files in RStudio for consistency with other terminology and to mention the gear symbol.

I am not familiar with hello.R. Maybe this memory is from some earlier point I history or from a non-devtools/usethis workflow?

Worth mentioning that RStudio will also throw a warning if you have defined a global function and then devtools::load_all()

FYI this is pkgload throwing the warning, not RStudio. I'm OK with the warning standing on its own, i.e. I don't think we need to warn people that they might see the warning.

Likewise I think it's OK to omit the "when inside an R package" from these RStudio callouts, because it feels almost implied from context (the book, the chapter, etc.)