6 ms·

Not to beat a dead horse, but: is there anything Atom does that VSCode doesn't already do better? Is there a reason to prefer it?

ComputerGuru 9y ago
I think Atom still exists because it got here first. I doubt it would have been created, let alone achieved the traction it has, had it not been "first to the market" in this particular niche.
- nobleach 9y ago
  Oh I dunno.... back in the day, there was Texmate, and it was like a pretty Emacs. Then came Sublime, Coda and Espresso. That was an era of pretty text editors. I was used to vim, so all that beauty didn't really entice me. When Atom first was announced, I just figured it was another Sublime copy. I had no idea what Electron was at that time. I just thought... hmm, an editor from GitHub... ok... I'm sure there's some reason for it to exist. But from my perspective, it wasn't competing with other javascript/browser-in-a-box editors... it was just another in a long line.
  - ComputerGuru 9y ago
    I meant JS-extensible and open source.
  - computerex 9y ago
    Vim can be incredibly pretty/beautiful... Aesthetics isn't exclusive to modern text editors! http://mohd-ali.com/images/aesthetic.png http://mohd-ali.com/images/aesthetic.png
guessmyname 9y ago
Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, VSCode is surely preferred more than Atom by Go developers because of the integration of the tools, Atom has the GitHub integration. And, maybe I am wrong, but I think that Atom has more people hacking it (making plugins and themes) than VSCode. At this point, VSCode vs. Atom is like VIM vs. Emacs.
- lghh 9y ago
  VIM and Emacs treat the process of editing text completely different. Atom and VS Code do not.
  - guessmyname 9y ago
    I didn't mean to compare how they work. What I am saying is that VSCode vs. Atom is the same "war" that people who like to use VIM have against people who like to use Emacs. The people who defend Atom/VSCode do it the same way people defend VIM/Emacs, it doesn't matter if one was built with tiger's blood and the other with wolf's blood, the "war" between them is just an ideology, otherwise everyone would be ignoring one and using the other.
ryanolsonx 9y ago
Customization is a lot easier. In atom, I can easily tweak plugins that I install. Also, theming is done using less/css. In VS Code, theming isn't done via CSS and that makes things a lot more difficult. The VIM plugin for Atom is a lot more feature rich than the VS Code version.
- bostonvaulter2 9y ago
  I really love the vim-mode-plus on atom. It is excellent in many ways (especially how it interacts with Atom's multi-cursor support): https://atom.io/packages/vim-mode-plus https://atom.io/packages/vim-mode-plus
- thegayngler 9y ago
  The VIM plugin in VSCode is atrocious. I use VIM a lot so I'll be going back to ATOM after today's non-sense. FYI, Ive been using VSCode for several weeks. I also like the settings UI better and the packages and themes UI better in ATOM.
  - ARussell 9y ago
    I'm curious which plugin you used, and why you didn't like it?
    - kentor 9y ago
      VSCodeVim is atrocious in handling multiple cursors amVim does it better, but is missing ; for repeating the last t or f command
jrs95 9y ago
Personally I only use VS Code if I'm working with TypeScript or Go. The plugin ecosystem is usually better with Atom. And if it weren't for tons of easy to use plugins, I'd just stick with Sublime or vim anyways.
STRiDEX 9y ago
I prefer atom's search. Its more like sublime.
- breatheoften 9y ago
  This is the main feature of atom I miss after switching to vscode. The atom search is really nice.
ssalka 9y ago
Can't have multiple projects open in VSCode. Big oversight IMO.
- debaserab2 9y ago
  Yeah you can. File -> New Window -> Open Folder
  - slimsag 9y ago
    This doesn't do what parent was talking about. This opens two separate windows, each representing a project. Any editor can do this. Parent meant opening two projects in the same window. This is the number one reason I do not use VS Code. I love having multiple projects open in the same window at the same time, accessible with cmd+p fuzzy search in Sublime.
    - MikusR 9y ago
      https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_14#_preview-multi-root-workspaces https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_14#_preview-multi-r...
    - debaserab2 9y ago
      Does opening up the parent folder of the two project folders not accomplish that exactly? I prefer thinking of codebases as folders in a file structure then as "projects", so I might be missing something obvious and is probably the reason I interpreted the parent comment's question the way I did.
      - ssalka 9y ago
        It basically does, but then you can't take advantage of VS Code's git integration
reaperducer 9y ago
Atom is a solution in search of a problem. Unless the problem was "My code editor is too easy to use, and not nerdy-looking enough. I need something that takes three hours to configure out of the box because I'm more interested in being an uber-geek than actually getting work done."
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  > I need something that takes three hours to configure out of the box because I'm more interested in being an uber-geek than actually getting work done." Actually, that's what I thought when I tried using Sublime Text for a while. It took me hours of editing the JSON file to get it do look and behave like I wanted, while Atom has a very convenient GUI to change settings and install plugins and themes. When I was finally done, I realized that the project tree view—if that's how it's called—sorts files with folders first like on Windows, and being on macOS it was too confusing for me since that was the only place throughout the OS where that happened. To me, Atom is the solution to Eclipse's stagnation, Sublime Text's somewhat high price tag (I know we can afford it, I'm just saying), and personal preference, plus really good GitHub integration which for me is paramount. I wouldn't define myself a uber-geek.
- exergy 9y ago
  Can't say I agree. Markdown looks positively beautiful on atom. Out of the box. Plus you can tweak it, without wanting to kill yourself, to show images in markdown too. Even syntax highlighting. And real time rendering. All this means that I use it as my coding logbook, and it works better than anything else out there at that.
- azinman2 9y ago
  I’d actually suggest the opposite. It’s much less nerdy than say VIM or emacs, and is easy enough to use. I don’t know of any text editor that doesn’t require hours of investment (or a slow trickle over months/years), and I don’t think it’s even really possible unless you use something like Xcode that is just so constrained (and even then you’ll remap keyboard shortcuts, etc). Text editors are a key part of people’s workflow, and everyone will have different needs or have been “brought up” in a certain style/configuration. Some are more mouse based, others are more keyboard driven, some require a certain toolbox, others are more basic in needs. Then add in different languages, project complexity, version control, project management software and styles... there’s too much diversity out there to have a one-size-fits-all approach.
nkkollaw 9y ago
First comment (currently), comparing to VSCode and saying how much better VSCode is: faster, smaller footprint, just wonderful. Someone was asking what's wrong with having a discussion about Atom vs. VSCode, but what's wrong about having a discussion about Atom and the topic of the post without hijacking the conversation into the same old "VSCode is better than Atom" nonsense? This is getting like Windows vs. Mac. Doesn't make any sense. Let VSCode be more optimized or technologically advanced than Atom like macOS might be compared to Windows, but without making that the reason why people should immediately switch to it. You know, macOS and VSCode might be better, but there are people who are perfectly fine and more productive on Windows or Atom.
- debaserab2 9y ago
  Sure. Variety is the spice of life and all that. Still, they are both electron based code editors that seem to have similar goals. Seems apt to compare them and worthy of discussion. If you publish a new release and you happen to have a competitor in the same market that is currently eating your lunch people are naturally going to ask what makes it worthwhile to switch.
  - nkkollaw 9y ago
    > Seems apt to compare them and worthy of discussion Sure, but that's not the tone used. Besides a few, most comments are dismissive of Atom and just point out how much better VSCode is and wondering why anyone would use Atom. It's factions, like Mac vs. PC. There is no productive discussion, here.
    - debaserab2 9y ago
      That's not true. I just got some great answers to my questions. You seem to be the one insisting this is some kind of a tribal thing and it's just not.
      - nkkollaw 9y ago
        Let's say that we had a different experience. I wanted to find out more about this release, and all I got was that I should switch to VSCode.
supernintendo 9y ago
I'm not sure how Atom fares in this regard but search has been nearly unusable for me in VSCode as of a recent update (even for moderately sized projects). Searches take longer than they should to complete and cause CPU usage to jump to over 50%. ag / The Silver Searcher completes the same searches in microsecond time.
krisdol 9y ago
This does beat a dead horse. Simple answer: Plugins. It'll be the same answer every time this question is asked, for me. As someone who doesn't see using typescript in the foreseeable future, and doesn't feel impacted by performance benchmark comparisons, VSCode doesn't seem to offer me any compelling reason to switch to it and go through reconfiguring another editor.
ericfrederich 9y ago
https://github.com/jhallen/joes-sandbox/tree/master/editor-perf https://github.com/jhallen/joes-sandbox/tree/master/editor-p...
airesQ 9y ago
In vscode is it possible to use alt+backspace to delete a word till the next '_' (underscore) or '-'(dash)? (ctrl-backspace works, but that deletes the whole word.) This is something I do all the time in atom, and miss quite a bit when using vscode (for typescript).
nobleach 9y ago
I saw it somewhere else, but a direct response is, vim-mode-plus. It's the absolute best I've seen in any editor. I was able to port every shortcut/binding/snippet from my .vimrc. The thing is just awesome. I tried the vim plugin for VSCode, and absolutely hated it. I have no doubt that it'll be improved in time but... it really gave me no reason to want to switch. I might go back to regular vim at the end of the year... I'm trying to make it an entire year with Atom.
- chillee 9y ago
  Hey I'm a developer for VSCodeVim. What did you hate about the vim plugin for VSCode?

ComputerGuru 9y ago

I think Atom still exists because it got here first. I doubt it would have been created, let alone achieved the traction it has, had it not been "first to the market" in this particular niche.

nobleach 9y ago
Oh I dunno.... back in the day, there was Texmate, and it was like a pretty Emacs. Then came Sublime, Coda and Espresso. That was an era of pretty text editors. I was used to vim, so all that beauty didn't really entice me. When Atom first was announced, I just figured it was another Sublime copy. I had no idea what Electron was at that time. I just thought... hmm, an editor from GitHub... ok... I'm sure there's some reason for it to exist. But from my perspective, it wasn't competing with other javascript/browser-in-a-box editors... it was just another in a long line.
- ComputerGuru 9y ago
  I meant JS-extensible and open source.
- computerex 9y ago
  Vim can be incredibly pretty/beautiful... Aesthetics isn't exclusive to modern text editors! http://mohd-ali.com/images/aesthetic.png http://mohd-ali.com/images/aesthetic.png

guessmyname 9y ago

Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, VSCode is surely preferred more than Atom by Go developers because of the integration of the tools, Atom has the GitHub integration. And, maybe I am wrong, but I think that Atom has more people hacking it (making plugins and themes) than VSCode. At this point, VSCode vs. Atom is like VIM vs. Emacs.

lghh 9y ago
VIM and Emacs treat the process of editing text completely different. Atom and VS Code do not.
- guessmyname 9y ago
  I didn't mean to compare how they work. What I am saying is that VSCode vs. Atom is the same "war" that people who like to use VIM have against people who like to use Emacs. The people who defend Atom/VSCode do it the same way people defend VIM/Emacs, it doesn't matter if one was built with tiger's blood and the other with wolf's blood, the "war" between them is just an ideology, otherwise everyone would be ignoring one and using the other.

ryanolsonx 9y ago

Customization is a lot easier. In atom, I can easily tweak plugins that I install. Also, theming is done using less/css. In VS Code, theming isn't done via CSS and that makes things a lot more difficult. The VIM plugin for Atom is a lot more feature rich than the VS Code version.

bostonvaulter2 9y ago
I really love the vim-mode-plus on atom. It is excellent in many ways (especially how it interacts with Atom's multi-cursor support): https://atom.io/packages/vim-mode-plus https://atom.io/packages/vim-mode-plus
thegayngler 9y ago
The VIM plugin in VSCode is atrocious. I use VIM a lot so I'll be going back to ATOM after today's non-sense. FYI, Ive been using VSCode for several weeks. I also like the settings UI better and the packages and themes UI better in ATOM.
- ARussell 9y ago
  I'm curious which plugin you used, and why you didn't like it?
  - kentor 9y ago
    VSCodeVim is atrocious in handling multiple cursors amVim does it better, but is missing ; for repeating the last t or f command

jrs95 9y ago

Personally I only use VS Code if I'm working with TypeScript or Go. The plugin ecosystem is usually better with Atom. And if it weren't for tons of easy to use plugins, I'd just stick with Sublime or vim anyways.

STRiDEX 9y ago

I prefer atom's search. Its more like sublime.

breatheoften 9y ago
This is the main feature of atom I miss after switching to vscode. The atom search is really nice.

ssalka 9y ago

Can't have multiple projects open in VSCode. Big oversight IMO.

debaserab2 9y ago
Yeah you can. File -> New Window -> Open Folder
- slimsag 9y ago
  This doesn't do what parent was talking about. This opens two separate windows, each representing a project. Any editor can do this. Parent meant opening two projects in the same window. This is the number one reason I do not use VS Code. I love having multiple projects open in the same window at the same time, accessible with cmd+p fuzzy search in Sublime.
  - MikusR 9y ago
    https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_14#_preview-multi-root-workspaces https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_14#_preview-multi-r...
  - debaserab2 9y ago
    Does opening up the parent folder of the two project folders not accomplish that exactly? I prefer thinking of codebases as folders in a file structure then as "projects", so I might be missing something obvious and is probably the reason I interpreted the parent comment's question the way I did.
    - ssalka 9y ago
      It basically does, but then you can't take advantage of VS Code's git integration

reaperducer 9y ago

Atom is a solution in search of a problem. Unless the problem was "My code editor is too easy to use, and not nerdy-looking enough. I need something that takes three hours to configure out of the box because I'm more interested in being an uber-geek than actually getting work done."

nkkollaw 9y ago
> I need something that takes three hours to configure out of the box because I'm more interested in being an uber-geek than actually getting work done." Actually, that's what I thought when I tried using Sublime Text for a while. It took me hours of editing the JSON file to get it do look and behave like I wanted, while Atom has a very convenient GUI to change settings and install plugins and themes. When I was finally done, I realized that the project tree view—if that's how it's called—sorts files with folders first like on Windows, and being on macOS it was too confusing for me since that was the only place throughout the OS where that happened. To me, Atom is the solution to Eclipse's stagnation, Sublime Text's somewhat high price tag (I know we can afford it, I'm just saying), and personal preference, plus really good GitHub integration which for me is paramount. I wouldn't define myself a uber-geek.
exergy 9y ago
Can't say I agree. Markdown looks positively beautiful on atom. Out of the box. Plus you can tweak it, without wanting to kill yourself, to show images in markdown too. Even syntax highlighting. And real time rendering. All this means that I use it as my coding logbook, and it works better than anything else out there at that.
azinman2 9y ago
I’d actually suggest the opposite. It’s much less nerdy than say VIM or emacs, and is easy enough to use. I don’t know of any text editor that doesn’t require hours of investment (or a slow trickle over months/years), and I don’t think it’s even really possible unless you use something like Xcode that is just so constrained (and even then you’ll remap keyboard shortcuts, etc). Text editors are a key part of people’s workflow, and everyone will have different needs or have been “brought up” in a certain style/configuration. Some are more mouse based, others are more keyboard driven, some require a certain toolbox, others are more basic in needs. Then add in different languages, project complexity, version control, project management software and styles... there’s too much diversity out there to have a one-size-fits-all approach.

nkkollaw 9y ago

First comment (currently), comparing to VSCode and saying how much better VSCode is: faster, smaller footprint, just wonderful. Someone was asking what's wrong with having a discussion about Atom vs. VSCode, but what's wrong about having a discussion about Atom and the topic of the post without hijacking the conversation into the same old "VSCode is better than Atom" nonsense? This is getting like Windows vs. Mac. Doesn't make any sense. Let VSCode be more optimized or technologically advanced than Atom like macOS might be compared to Windows, but without making that the reason why people should immediately switch to it. You know, macOS and VSCode might be better, but there are people who are perfectly fine and more productive on Windows or Atom.

debaserab2 9y ago
Sure. Variety is the spice of life and all that. Still, they are both electron based code editors that seem to have similar goals. Seems apt to compare them and worthy of discussion. If you publish a new release and you happen to have a competitor in the same market that is currently eating your lunch people are naturally going to ask what makes it worthwhile to switch.
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  > Seems apt to compare them and worthy of discussion Sure, but that's not the tone used. Besides a few, most comments are dismissive of Atom and just point out how much better VSCode is and wondering why anyone would use Atom. It's factions, like Mac vs. PC. There is no productive discussion, here.
  - debaserab2 9y ago
    That's not true. I just got some great answers to my questions. You seem to be the one insisting this is some kind of a tribal thing and it's just not.
    - nkkollaw 9y ago
      Let's say that we had a different experience. I wanted to find out more about this release, and all I got was that I should switch to VSCode.

supernintendo 9y ago

I'm not sure how Atom fares in this regard but search has been nearly unusable for me in VSCode as of a recent update (even for moderately sized projects). Searches take longer than they should to complete and cause CPU usage to jump to over 50%. ag / The Silver Searcher completes the same searches in microsecond time.

krisdol 9y ago

This does beat a dead horse. Simple answer: Plugins. It'll be the same answer every time this question is asked, for me. As someone who doesn't see using typescript in the foreseeable future, and doesn't feel impacted by performance benchmark comparisons, VSCode doesn't seem to offer me any compelling reason to switch to it and go through reconfiguring another editor.

ericfrederich 9y ago

https://github.com/jhallen/joes-sandbox/tree/master/editor-perf https://github.com/jhallen/joes-sandbox/tree/master/editor-p...

airesQ 9y ago

In vscode is it possible to use alt+backspace to delete a word till the next '_' (underscore) or '-'(dash)? (ctrl-backspace works, but that deletes the whole word.) This is something I do all the time in atom, and miss quite a bit when using vscode (for typescript).

nobleach 9y ago

I saw it somewhere else, but a direct response is, vim-mode-plus. It's the absolute best I've seen in any editor. I was able to port every shortcut/binding/snippet from my .vimrc. The thing is just awesome. I tried the vim plugin for VSCode, and absolutely hated it. I have no doubt that it'll be improved in time but... it really gave me no reason to want to switch. I might go back to regular vim at the end of the year... I'm trying to make it an entire year with Atom.

chillee 9y ago
Hey I'm a developer for VSCodeVim. What did you hate about the vim plugin for VSCode?