What is the general term for the IDE popup that shows you the members when you add the dot after its name?

Question

I am writing an academic paper and I need to refer to a feature that exists in most IDEs for OO languages, where you type an objects name in the source code, add the dot, and something pops up and lets you pick members.

I am looking for a general (not IDE specific term, though I am also interested in knowing those), and that refers specifically to this functionality and popup rather than to all the support features (e.g., "Content assist" or something like that). The term should be distinguishable from the member list or outline views in most IDEs.

My paper is concerned with Eclipse and Java, but I am wondering if there is a well-accepted term.

Answer 1

Intellisense is what Microsoft calls it, and that seems to be in general use. "Autocomplete" works fine too.

Answer 2

intellisense is the microsoft adopted name for what you are looking for :)

AutoComplete is the term that is used in other programs non-Microsoft property

Answer 3

I don't think AutoComplete quite captures it. See this discussion on Joel on Software:

http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?joel.3.457350.17

I think "content assistance" or something like that would be acceptable in an academic paper. As another poster in that forum pointed out, I think Intellisense is becoming much like Kleenex or perhaps "google" (verb form).

Answer 4

If you are referring to the small list that pops up, I usually refer to it as the autosuggest popup menu.

Answer 5

I think the term "Intellisense" is probably the most wide spread and only takes a couple of ticks to understand. I'd go with that.

Until I worked with Visual Studio, the term I was most familiar with was "Code Insight", which again is easy to understand.

Answer 6

"Autocompletion" is the more generic term. I'd avoid vendor-specific jargon.

(In addition, in the unlikely event, a reader who doesn't know the term is more likely to be able to figure out what "autocompletion" means from context. "Intellisense" is like "Tide" or "Pledge"; you'd never guess what it is from the name. ;-)