2 ms·

Sure, an IDE comes with all the tools and features right out of the box. But not everyone needs all of them. I don't see a problem with combining tools, which i

Sure, an IDE comes with all the tools and features right out of the box. But not everyone needs all of them. I don't see a problem with combining tools, which is really easy with Vim as it already runs in the terminal. I installed a couple plugins in Vim. But those all provide features I actually use and they barely affect performance. But more importantly I just prefer the Vim approach: start out with a minimal UI and feature set and only add or tweak what is needed. No weird and distracting auto-formatting while I'm still typing, more intuitive tabs/buffers and nothing running in the background all the time. I might be an outlier because most editors and IDEs have standard configs that I find distracting and frustrating, but I rather put a motor and bags on my bicycle than start cutting down a truck.

kelnos 6y ago
I've tried for years to find the right combination of plugins and configs to make vim (and now neovim) as comfortable as IntelliJ for "large" languages (like Java & Scala), and I still can't do it. I actually very much agree with you that IntelliJ's all-batteries-included bits can be distracting and frustrating at times, and it's annoying to track down and disable the stuff you don't want. The memory usage makes me cry; occasionally the OOM killer murders it on my 16GB laptop. But IntelliJ actually does all the things I want it to, reliably, and (mostly) without fuss. vim/nvim just... doesn't. Or I haven't figured out how to get it to do it after hours of trying, which amounts to the same thing. It makes me super sad, because a part of me rebels at having to use a giant IDE to be productive, but that's just been my experience. I too would rather put a motor and bags on my bicycle than start cutting down a truck, but I haven't found a motor and bags that fit and work right for me, after more work than is reasonable trying.
- alpaca128 6y ago
  Yes, Java projects are the reason why I still sometimes use an IDE as well. I agree that there still are some gaps when using normal editors and when you really rely on those features it sucks. I like how those two choices are starting to converge from both sides, thanks to language servers offering a more standardised way to make editors a bit smarter, as well as other programs getting plugins for using NeoVim as backend for text editing. I just don't feel like any of those two solutions is mature yet.

kelnos 6y ago

I've tried for years to find the right combination of plugins and configs to make vim (and now neovim) as comfortable as IntelliJ for "large" languages (like Java & Scala), and I still can't do it. I actually very much agree with you that IntelliJ's all-batteries-included bits can be distracting and frustrating at times, and it's annoying to track down and disable the stuff you don't want. The memory usage makes me cry; occasionally the OOM killer murders it on my 16GB laptop. But IntelliJ actually does all the things I want it to, reliably, and (mostly) without fuss. vim/nvim just... doesn't. Or I haven't figured out how to get it to do it after hours of trying, which amounts to the same thing. It makes me super sad, because a part of me rebels at having to use a giant IDE to be productive, but that's just been my experience. I too would rather put a motor and bags on my bicycle than start cutting down a truck, but I haven't found a motor and bags that fit and work right for me, after more work than is reasonable trying.

alpaca128 6y ago
Yes, Java projects are the reason why I still sometimes use an IDE as well. I agree that there still are some gaps when using normal editors and when you really rely on those features it sucks. I like how those two choices are starting to converge from both sides, thanks to language servers offering a more standardised way to make editors a bit smarter, as well as other programs getting plugins for using NeoVim as backend for text editing. I just don't feel like any of those two solutions is mature yet.