5 ms·

Tabs please, I love it but no tabs are killing me. It is nice to see it is getting attention and we will hopefully see it in 1.2.

by CSDude 10y ago

dubcanada 10y ago
It kind of has tabs with the previously opened files area, they function basically the same as tabs. Just visualized differently.
- bmurphy1976 10y ago
  No, they don't behave like tabs at all. Also, I suspect most people who demand tabs are like me and have hot keys such as ALT-1 ALT-2 ALT-3 to go direct to tab 1,2,3 respectively. The VSCode workspace does no such thing.
  - mynameisvlad 10y ago
    > No, they don't behave like tabs at all. How so? I use them as a tab equivalent. If it's open there, I consider it an "active file" and switch between them as if they were tabs. I can close them and then reopen them at a later time, like tabs. They keep track of what files I'm working on, like tabs. The only real thing I'm not seeing is the keyboard shortcuts, sure, but you consider that an "also" so I'm wondering what else you're missing from it.
    - bmurphy1976 10y ago
      1. The next file you open always ends up at the end of the working files list in VS code. Most tab implementations don't work this way, they open up a file immediately to the right of the current tab. Therefore, if I have tabs A,B,C where B is selected and I open up D, the tabs become A,B,D,C. This is an important behavior to remember when you heavily use hot-keys to move direct to already open tabs and your brain is hardwired to expect this behavior. 2. When I close a tab, I want it gone. I don't want it still hanging around in my working space. I'm ok with it sitting around in a "Recent Files" location, but I am intentionally reducing my working space by closing a tab. The working files in VS Code don't work this way, the file hangs around and to the best of my knowledge I have to take my hand off the keyboard and use the mouse to remove it. Again, this is an important nuance that must be considered when you used to heavily using hot-keys to move between files. Were VSCode to introduce hot-keys for directly jumping to files in the working files list, those two differences alone would make it nearly unusable for somebody who has over a decade of muscle memory built up working with tabs this way. It's also the same behavior I get and expect from other applications I use heavily, such as all my web browsers and my terminal emulator. VSCode is the odd man out. It's been a few months since I tried to use VSCode regularly, so things may have improved since then and I'm sure there were other differences that I've forgotten, but this workflow works for me. I have alternatives that don't break my workflow (Atom, Sublime, etc). I would really like to give VSCode a fair shot, but I personally cannot until the tab issue is addressed. It's too big of a change with little upside. Also, this is the only deal breaker for me. Other than this, VSCode looks and feels fantastic!
Khalos 10y ago
Totally agree. This has been one of the biggest reasons I've been having trouble transitioning to VS Code. I know it's silly, but the design pattern is near ubiquitous in other editors (and other applications) it's really hard to go back to not having them. I think it was a strange choice to not include tabs up to this point, but I'm glad they're finally coming around. Kudos to the VS Code team for listening to feedback.
forrestthewoods 10y ago
"Visual design for editor tabs We have a visual design for how editor tabs might look in VS Code. We will start to implement the design in the next milestone."
jasonkostempski 10y ago
I'm usually in VS, where tabs are dominant, but I've used just about every editor under the sun and I've started to realize tabs are a pretty horrible UI. The first time I was forced to think outside the tab was with XCode (it has them but they don't behave anywhere near the same). I despised it at first but eventually started preferring the "assistant editor" window and using tabs to separate areas of concern. I've used Vim a lot too and I used to keep trying to make it do the tab per file thing until I saw what XCode was going for and started using it more like that and have been much happier with it. In VS Code I think the working files list on the left is a far easier to read and navigate that tabs could ever be and Ctrl+Tab still works as expected. I'm hoping VS adopts some window layout ideas from VS Code and some other places too.
- bmurphy1976 10y ago
  A major change that disrupts a well honed workflow should have a significant upside to be worth the investment. As far as I'm concerned, the working files list does not provide enough of an upside to justify breaking my workflow, which sure is one big downside. The working files list is a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem for those who want it. I see no reason why it should be removed. That said, by not supporting an alternate tab-based workflow, VSCode is preventing a good chunk of devs from adopting it as their daily driver.
at-fates-hands 10y ago
The debate over tabs vs. split view was a lively debate and it's still being considered: https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/293070-visual-studio-code/suggestions/7752519-implement-tabs https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/293070-visual-stud...
vldo 10y ago
I'm guessing it'll be in the next release; there's already a proposed design: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/224#issuecomment-213015687 https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/224#issuecomment-...
burger_moon 10y ago
If they bring in proper tabs (not single click working tab either) then I'll go back in heart beat. I've been jumping around between atom, vs code, and sublime a lot over the last few months because of how all the editors are changing the way tabs work. I'll have to check again, but I remember not being able to adjust the big sidebar either. On a vertical monitor it's a huge waste of space to have such a wide bar with only 4 buttons in it. It'd be nice to have some customization for that.

Tabs please, I love it but no tabs are killing me. It is nice to see it is getting attention and we will hopefully see it in 1.2.

by CSDude 10y ago

Tabs please, I love it but no tabs are killing me. It is nice to see it is getting attention and we will hopefully see it in 1.2.

dubcanada 10y ago

It kind of has tabs with the previously opened files area, they function basically the same as tabs. Just visualized differently.

bmurphy1976 10y ago
No, they don't behave like tabs at all. Also, I suspect most people who demand tabs are like me and have hot keys such as ALT-1 ALT-2 ALT-3 to go direct to tab 1,2,3 respectively. The VSCode workspace does no such thing.
- mynameisvlad 10y ago
  > No, they don't behave like tabs at all. How so? I use them as a tab equivalent. If it's open there, I consider it an "active file" and switch between them as if they were tabs. I can close them and then reopen them at a later time, like tabs. They keep track of what files I'm working on, like tabs. The only real thing I'm not seeing is the keyboard shortcuts, sure, but you consider that an "also" so I'm wondering what else you're missing from it.
  - bmurphy1976 10y ago
    1. The next file you open always ends up at the end of the working files list in VS code. Most tab implementations don't work this way, they open up a file immediately to the right of the current tab. Therefore, if I have tabs A,B,C where B is selected and I open up D, the tabs become A,B,D,C. This is an important behavior to remember when you heavily use hot-keys to move direct to already open tabs and your brain is hardwired to expect this behavior. 2. When I close a tab, I want it gone. I don't want it still hanging around in my working space. I'm ok with it sitting around in a "Recent Files" location, but I am intentionally reducing my working space by closing a tab. The working files in VS Code don't work this way, the file hangs around and to the best of my knowledge I have to take my hand off the keyboard and use the mouse to remove it. Again, this is an important nuance that must be considered when you used to heavily using hot-keys to move between files. Were VSCode to introduce hot-keys for directly jumping to files in the working files list, those two differences alone would make it nearly unusable for somebody who has over a decade of muscle memory built up working with tabs this way. It's also the same behavior I get and expect from other applications I use heavily, such as all my web browsers and my terminal emulator. VSCode is the odd man out. It's been a few months since I tried to use VSCode regularly, so things may have improved since then and I'm sure there were other differences that I've forgotten, but this workflow works for me. I have alternatives that don't break my workflow (Atom, Sublime, etc). I would really like to give VSCode a fair shot, but I personally cannot until the tab issue is addressed. It's too big of a change with little upside. Also, this is the only deal breaker for me. Other than this, VSCode looks and feels fantastic!

Khalos 10y ago

Totally agree. This has been one of the biggest reasons I've been having trouble transitioning to VS Code. I know it's silly, but the design pattern is near ubiquitous in other editors (and other applications) it's really hard to go back to not having them. I think it was a strange choice to not include tabs up to this point, but I'm glad they're finally coming around. Kudos to the VS Code team for listening to feedback.

forrestthewoods 10y ago

"Visual design for editor tabs We have a visual design for how editor tabs might look in VS Code. We will start to implement the design in the next milestone."

jasonkostempski 10y ago

I'm usually in VS, where tabs are dominant, but I've used just about every editor under the sun and I've started to realize tabs are a pretty horrible UI. The first time I was forced to think outside the tab was with XCode (it has them but they don't behave anywhere near the same). I despised it at first but eventually started preferring the "assistant editor" window and using tabs to separate areas of concern. I've used Vim a lot too and I used to keep trying to make it do the tab per file thing until I saw what XCode was going for and started using it more like that and have been much happier with it. In VS Code I think the working files list on the left is a far easier to read and navigate that tabs could ever be and Ctrl+Tab still works as expected. I'm hoping VS adopts some window layout ideas from VS Code and some other places too.

bmurphy1976 10y ago
A major change that disrupts a well honed workflow should have a significant upside to be worth the investment. As far as I'm concerned, the working files list does not provide enough of an upside to justify breaking my workflow, which sure is one big downside. The working files list is a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem for those who want it. I see no reason why it should be removed. That said, by not supporting an alternate tab-based workflow, VSCode is preventing a good chunk of devs from adopting it as their daily driver.

at-fates-hands 10y ago

The debate over tabs vs. split view was a lively debate and it's still being considered: https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/293070-visual-studio-code/suggestions/7752519-implement-tabs https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/293070-visual-stud...

vldo 10y ago

I'm guessing it'll be in the next release; there's already a proposed design: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/224#issuecomment-213015687 https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/224#issuecomment-...

burger_moon 10y ago

If they bring in proper tabs (not single click working tab either) then I'll go back in heart beat. I've been jumping around between atom, vs code, and sublime a lot over the last few months because of how all the editors are changing the way tabs work. I'll have to check again, but I remember not being able to adjust the big sidebar either. On a vertical monitor it's a huge waste of space to have such a wide bar with only 4 buttons in it. It'd be nice to have some customization for that.