Coders or lemmy, what editors do you use? Is it worth learning a new one?
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In my personal experience, it’s a little faster but not a huge speed difference. However, it’s much more pleasant and ergonomic. I enjoy the act of modal editing much more than modeless.
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I use JetBrains Rider for dotnet (with Vim emulation), VS Code for general misc code editing (with Vim emulation), and NeoVim for quick in-terminal edits and Git workflows. I even have vi-mode enabled in my terminals, but I haven’t bothered trying to do it in browser yet.
My experience is that modal editing is only a little faster, but it’s much more comfy, even fun! I enjoy coding with modal editing much more so than modeless. Being able to zip around the code without having to move my fingers to the arrow cluster just feels nice.
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I've used everything, vim, nvim, emacs, visual studio, vscode, sublime, codeblocks, android studio, xcode, bloodshed, intellij, eclipse, VB, geany, dreamweaver, qt, atom, and cursor (even though it’s really just a plugin)
It doesn't matter. It will never matter. I use vscode today because it handles everything I throw at it and it's easy to make extensions for. Or cursor if I'm feeling lazy, the agentic mode with claude is pretty damn good if your codebase is well established.
Don't get hung up on the editor, just use the tools available to get the job done, at the end of the day programming is converting concepts to text.
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How do you debug?
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Is the lack of debugger in Zed not a problem for you?
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I used to use vim but imo it's not worth the time it requires to configure to get working properly. These days I don't code without a debugger so if there's not a good way to set breakpoints I don't even start
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I've moved on from vim to neovim, and I think I'll continue using something in that family in the future. It's a pretty stable experience overall, but the inclusion of LSPs and tree-sitter have been good improvements too.
Ultimately editors are tools, similar to keyboards, os-es, screens, chairs, shoes and so on. There are some objective quality differences between a well-constructed tool and some slapdash nonsense, and there are a huge amount of subjective quality differences. What suits me may not suit you, and vice versa.
It's generally good to try out some new (to you) stuff and see if you like it. If you do, great; if you don't, well, now you know. I think my worst experience was with Acme (or Wily? can't remember), during a phase where I experimented with Plan 9 stuff. Ultimately very not my cup of tea, but apparently Rob Pike (who made it) and some other gophers still enjoy it? Which is good for them, just like it's good for me that I can choose not to use it. It's just personal tastes, and I still think it's good that I gave it a go.
The debate over holding down modifier keys vs modes is also a part of the Emacs vs vi debate from many decades ago. There might be some statistics for what works best for the most people now, but again, use what suits you. And try some new stuff when you get curious, it's generally good for you.
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I switched to and exclusively used vim for about a year. I switched back to Sublime one day, and found I was like 10x more productive and comfortable.
Just use the editor you like. There's no right or wrong answer!
... And btw, Sublime 4 has improved LSP support. Just install the base LSP plugin + plugins for the languages you want. Some even give the option to install the LSP server automatically if if's not detected.
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Vscode. I am surprised to see a lot of people still use sublime text. I was a long hold out on that one but it's just so much worse than vscode in every way.
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Why do people use vscode over codium? (Minus the two people who actually know the answer)
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I'll add shift + f6 for refactor rename and ctrl + 6 for redefining your function i.e. add/remove parameters and/or return value.
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VSCode with the Vim plugin most of the time. Vim if I'm just editing something small and was already in a terminal.
Every IDE worth trying has Vim mode or a plugin for it, you don't need to use actual Vim to benefit from it!
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Yeah I agree, I like that aspect too!
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Don't Speculate
Go to Twitch/YouTube. Watch a senior Vim/Jetbrains/Emacs/VS Code/Helix churn out code for a hackathon/advent-of-code, and see what you are (or are not!) missing out on.
If you have "how the hell did they just do that" moments, figure out what that feature is, and STEAL IT. If its too hard to steal, then you are probably being limited by your editor.
- If you're going to change editors and make the jump, sooner is better. Start with Vim bindings for VS Code.
- If you're not going to switch, then make absolutely sure you dont bottom out. To be frank, Ctrl+D is the tip of the iceberg. Half the benefit of vim/helix is, they chase you around with a 10k volt taser until you've mastered tons and tons of shortcuts. Go beyond/outside your editor: Use spacebar as a modifier key, where holding spacebar converts your WASD into arrow keys. You'll get vim-like benefits of never lifting your hands, but in every app. For VS Code, get cursor jumper extensions like Mario (block jumper), get cursor-alignment extensions, write boatloads of custom vs code snippets, get a macro record+replay extension, make a jump-to-next quote, jump to next bracket, install sequential number generator extension, case change (camel case, snake case, etc) extension, sort lines. If you can do that, you'll likely never feel that you are missing out on whatever modal editor people are swearing by.
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I just use Vim out of habit. I've been using it as my main text editor since I was like 13 or so, maybe more like 10 I don't really remember. It works perfectly well for the vast majority of my use cases. I use Jetbrains IDEs if I feel I need the power of a full IDE. Jetbrains has an IdeaVim plugin if you want it to be a modal editor, or if your fingers are accustomed to Vim keybindings.
