5 ms·

Why choose Emacs or vim over an IDE? I'm still not clear on the advantages/disadvantages.

kelipso 4y ago
I do almost all my coding over ssh and it takes about 5 mins to set up emacs by installing packages and copying the config file. I tried VScode and Pycharm multiple times and I kept getting errors so I switched back to emacs.
alkonaut 4y ago
The one that immediately stands out is the ability to run it inside a shell (so also on a remote system).
- shanebellone 4y ago
  I would consider this a USP rather than simple preference. Although, in what circumstance would live editing really be value-added?
brabel 4y ago
I use emacs (sometimes) for two main reasons: * it's much, much more lightweight than IDEs like IntelliJ and VSCode. * it supports every obscure language I like to try, not just the popular ones the IDE vendor has interest in supporting (third-party plugins for other IDEs tend to be pretty poor, IMO), and adding your own "macros" for new languages is very easy. If you have a very powerful laptop with a lot of RAM and don't mind only using that for programming, and you only use languages that are well supported for your IDEs, then I don't think you would like emacs. Otherwise, it's great to have it!
- worldsayshi 4y ago
  > it supports every obscure language I like to try For syntax highlighting and other syntax related features yes. But I often felt that it was a pain to get more involved features like debugging to work. I don't remember what the story was for automatic refactoring. I don't remember that working.
deleted 4y ago
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jwr 4y ago
Here's one good reason: unlike most "IDEs", Emacs has been around and it will stick around. When I started programming, Turbo Pascal was all the rage, I then used Borland C/C++ IDEs. I saw various incarnations of Microsoft's Visual Studio come and go, get redone and rewritten. Every microcontroller vendor seems to try to ship their own IDE for some reason. All these IDEs come and go, and your customizations (or extensions) are lost. In that same time, Emacs has stayed, and while it is being actively developed all the time, you can have a single IDE that works over a time span of 25 years or more. Parts of my init.el (Emacs initialization file) are from 1993.
nivenkos 4y ago
Easy usage over SSH and on battery-powered laptops, etc. Like I learnt vi originally because it was the only text editor on an air-gapped machine (since it had to connect to loads of obscure equipment) used for setting up psychology experiments in a lab I was an intern in. I then used it on an Intel Atom 11" netbook for years as a student (I could only have one app open on a workspace at a time - everything had to be full-screen). And then used it loads over SSH when working with a remote desktop and build server at a FAANG. Both Emacs and Vim are so versatile in that respect.
- shanebellone 4y ago
  I suppose I use Nano for these use cases. Although those instances are rare.
wvh 4y ago
IDEs make sense when you have one or a few large year-long coding projects. If a lot of your time is spent focussing on Ops and Sec, jumping between directories all over the file system and making little changes here and there, firing up an IDE, configuring it and navigating projects is not efficient. I use a different editor for small quick edits and dealing with large projects that need building and all sorts of tooling set up.

I do almost all my coding over ssh and it takes about 5 mins to set up emacs by installing packages and copying the config file. I tried VScode and Pycharm multiple times and I kept getting errors so I switched back to emacs.

alkonaut 4y ago

The one that immediately stands out is the ability to run it inside a shell (so also on a remote system).

shanebellone 4y ago
I would consider this a USP rather than simple preference. Although, in what circumstance would live editing really be value-added?

brabel 4y ago

I use emacs (sometimes) for two main reasons: * it's much, much more lightweight than IDEs like IntelliJ and VSCode. * it supports every obscure language I like to try, not just the popular ones the IDE vendor has interest in supporting (third-party plugins for other IDEs tend to be pretty poor, IMO), and adding your own "macros" for new languages is very easy. If you have a very powerful laptop with a lot of RAM and don't mind only using that for programming, and you only use languages that are well supported for your IDEs, then I don't think you would like emacs. Otherwise, it's great to have it!

worldsayshi 4y ago
> it supports every obscure language I like to try For syntax highlighting and other syntax related features yes. But I often felt that it was a pain to get more involved features like debugging to work. I don't remember what the story was for automatic refactoring. I don't remember that working.

deleted 4y ago

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jwr 4y ago

Here's one good reason: unlike most "IDEs", Emacs has been around and it will stick around. When I started programming, Turbo Pascal was all the rage, I then used Borland C/C++ IDEs. I saw various incarnations of Microsoft's Visual Studio come and go, get redone and rewritten. Every microcontroller vendor seems to try to ship their own IDE for some reason. All these IDEs come and go, and your customizations (or extensions) are lost. In that same time, Emacs has stayed, and while it is being actively developed all the time, you can have a single IDE that works over a time span of 25 years or more. Parts of my init.el (Emacs initialization file) are from 1993.

nivenkos 4y ago

Easy usage over SSH and on battery-powered laptops, etc. Like I learnt vi originally because it was the only text editor on an air-gapped machine (since it had to connect to loads of obscure equipment) used for setting up psychology experiments in a lab I was an intern in. I then used it on an Intel Atom 11" netbook for years as a student (I could only have one app open on a workspace at a time - everything had to be full-screen). And then used it loads over SSH when working with a remote desktop and build server at a FAANG. Both Emacs and Vim are so versatile in that respect.

shanebellone 4y ago
I suppose I use Nano for these use cases. Although those instances are rare.

wvh 4y ago

IDEs make sense when you have one or a few large year-long coding projects. If a lot of your time is spent focussing on Ops and Sec, jumping between directories all over the file system and making little changes here and there, firing up an IDE, configuring it and navigating projects is not efficient. I use a different editor for small quick edits and dealing with large projects that need building and all sorts of tooling set up.