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We’ve seen how Electron performs. The only reason VSC doesn’t totally suck is because a lot of it is still native code. I can’t even imagine how crappy it would

We’ve seen how Electron performs. The only reason VSC doesn’t totally suck is because a lot of it is still native code. I can’t even imagine how crappy it would be building an entire OS out of that stuff. And you’re never going to escape the needs for another systems language because unless you find a way of writing non-memory managed code with pointers and inlined assembly in JavaScript, that language simply isn’t going to cut it. And on top of that you’d need a compiler that can compile machine code just to bootstrap node in the first place. I’m all for experimental operating systems but there’s a reason systems languages differ in design to web scripting languages and really we should be using the languages that suit each domain the best rather than simply putting JavaScript everywhere because we are too lazy to learn anything else.

chpmrc 5y ago
VSCode literally runs in the browser with identical performance to the Electron app (because aside from some differences in APIs, the runtime is pretty much the same). Try GitHub Codespaces and you'll see.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  A subset of it runs on the browser, it is also how it all started anyway, with the Monaco editor project.
  - chpmrc 5y ago
    No, it's exactly the same as the "native" app (API differences aside, as I mentioned). Have you tried GitHub Codespaces?
qbasic_forever 5y ago
There's very little native code in VS code: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode https://github.com/microsoft/vscode It's all typescript, even the main editor component monaco. You might be thinking of the atom editor which tried to do more native code for speed of editing but AFAIK atom has kind of been shelved and not developed anymore.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  The search engine is ripgrep, written in Rust, and VSCode makes heavy use of WebGL, e.g. terminal. You should have gone through https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/package.json https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/package.json instead of main repo.
  - laumars 5y ago
    No idea why you’re getting downvoted. Search, language server engines, even code reformatting, all the stuff that really separates VSC is an external executable and thus not part of Electron. If any of these fanboys spent even 5 minutes looking at the config of VSC (never mind the source) they’d see just how many references to other binaries there are.
    - emteycz 5y ago
      LSP servers and code formatters are often written in JS.
      - laumars 5y ago
        Sometimes sure; but not “often”. The ones that work against JavaScript are probably written in JavaScript however none of the ones I use commonly are.
- szastamasta 5y ago
  And it performs exactly according to that statement. Slow as hell. I can’t bare it’s input lag when typing. It’s a horrible text editor. Maybe a nice IDE but horrible editor.
  - bitwize 5y ago
    It's not really an IDE either, as it needs a lot of stuff bolted on to have even partial IDE functionality. It's a shittier, more bloated Emacs.
tored 5y ago
One common marketing gimmick within the JavaScript community is to brand your project "lightweight", just like this project. JavaScripter’s desperately search for that because their ecosystem is the total opposite.
- halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
  Total collapse? Ha, thanks for the laugh. Snark aside, it’s nowhere near total collapse. It’s not without its problems of course but things are relatively fine compared to other package management solutions in use with other languages.
  - spiderice 5y ago
    Either GP edited, or you misread. GP says "total opposite" not "total collapse"
    - laumars 5y ago
      It always said total opposite. You can only edit messages for 2 hours and there is a 4 hour gap between the opposite comment and collapse reply.
      - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
        It said total collapse or else I wouldn’t have said as such. It was such hyperbole that I had to respond.
        laumars 5y ago
        I read it as “total opposite” and unless the GP has found a way of rewriting both my memory and bypassing HNs automatic hard limit of a 2 hour edit window, I’d say the error is yours. Plus total collapse doesn’t even make sense given the context of post whereas total opposite does. So that alone should have prompted you to re-read their post.
        5y ago

chpmrc 5y ago

VSCode literally runs in the browser with identical performance to the Electron app (because aside from some differences in APIs, the runtime is pretty much the same). Try GitHub Codespaces and you'll see.

pjmlp 5y ago
A subset of it runs on the browser, it is also how it all started anyway, with the Monaco editor project.
- chpmrc 5y ago
  No, it's exactly the same as the "native" app (API differences aside, as I mentioned). Have you tried GitHub Codespaces?

qbasic_forever 5y ago

There's very little native code in VS code: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode https://github.com/microsoft/vscode It's all typescript, even the main editor component monaco. You might be thinking of the atom editor which tried to do more native code for speed of editing but AFAIK atom has kind of been shelved and not developed anymore.

pjmlp 5y ago
The search engine is ripgrep, written in Rust, and VSCode makes heavy use of WebGL, e.g. terminal. You should have gone through https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/package.json https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/package.json instead of main repo.
- laumars 5y ago
  No idea why you’re getting downvoted. Search, language server engines, even code reformatting, all the stuff that really separates VSC is an external executable and thus not part of Electron. If any of these fanboys spent even 5 minutes looking at the config of VSC (never mind the source) they’d see just how many references to other binaries there are.
  - emteycz 5y ago
    LSP servers and code formatters are often written in JS.
    - laumars 5y ago
      Sometimes sure; but not “often”. The ones that work against JavaScript are probably written in JavaScript however none of the ones I use commonly are.
szastamasta 5y ago
And it performs exactly according to that statement. Slow as hell. I can’t bare it’s input lag when typing. It’s a horrible text editor. Maybe a nice IDE but horrible editor.
- bitwize 5y ago
  It's not really an IDE either, as it needs a lot of stuff bolted on to have even partial IDE functionality. It's a shittier, more bloated Emacs.

tored 5y ago

One common marketing gimmick within the JavaScript community is to brand your project "lightweight", just like this project. JavaScripter’s desperately search for that because their ecosystem is the total opposite.

halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
Total collapse? Ha, thanks for the laugh. Snark aside, it’s nowhere near total collapse. It’s not without its problems of course but things are relatively fine compared to other package management solutions in use with other languages.
- spiderice 5y ago
  Either GP edited, or you misread. GP says "total opposite" not "total collapse"
  - laumars 5y ago
    It always said total opposite. You can only edit messages for 2 hours and there is a 4 hour gap between the opposite comment and collapse reply.
    - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
      It said total collapse or else I wouldn’t have said as such. It was such hyperbole that I had to respond.
      - laumars 5y ago
        I read it as “total opposite” and unless the GP has found a way of rewriting both my memory and bypassing HNs automatic hard limit of a 2 hour edit window, I’d say the error is yours. Plus total collapse doesn’t even make sense given the context of post whereas total opposite does. So that alone should have prompted you to re-read their post.
      - 5y ago