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Yes, the minimap is what you guessed it was. Other ST features that Vim/Emacs don’t have (by default, at least): • You can use proportional fonts (I use Verdan

Yes, the minimap is what you guessed it was. Other ST features that Vim/Emacs don’t have (by default, at least): • You can use proportional fonts (I use Verdana) • The interface chrome is graphical, not text in a grid. This allows nice details such as a drop-shadow from the minimap when it covers the text and proportional fonts in the file tree’s filenames. • On a Mac with smooth scrolling, you can scroll smoothly pixel-by-pixel, instead of choppily line-by-line. • You can easily rename a variable, by using Command-D repeatedly to select the instances of the names inside multiple carets. But I usually forget to do this until after I’ve already renamed just one instance of the variable, and then I can’t select the other instances without undoing that edit first, so it’s not that useful. • It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. Similarly, it uses JSON for settings. But Sublime Text doesn’t have nearly as many editing shortcuts by default as Vim. For instance, there isn’t any hot-key to select inside a quoted string – Expand Selection to Scope is the closest, but it’s hard to predict what it will do and so it isn’t very reliable. You can enable Vintage mode, which emulates many Vim key-bindings and thus gives you access to that power. That mode has a few small problems – the biggest one for me is that the Esc shortcut to exit the current mode sometimes conflicts with the Esc shortcut to remove extra carets so you have just one. It’s too bad Sublime Text isn’t open source. Its plugin API doesn’t allow setting tabstops manually, which I would like so I could write a plugin implementing true elastic tabstops. Since I can’t implement it myself, I have no option but to beg the developer to implement that and wait.

irahul 14y ago
> You can use proportional fonts (I use Verdana) Vim uses what my terminal uses. No ideas if my terminal(terminator) allows proportional fonts, but I always have used monospaced. Proportional looks ugly to me when it comes to code. > The interface chrome is graphical, not text in a grid. This allows nice details such as a drop-shadow from the minimap when it covers the text and proportional fonts in the file tree’s filenames. Drop shadows? Umm, no thanks. > On a Mac with smooth scrolling, you can scroll smoothly pixel-by-pixel, instead of choppily line-by-line. Either I search for what I am looking for, jump to definition, or move screen by screen. I don't scroll - at all. If I did, I am reading lines of code, not rows of pixels. > You can easily rename a variable, I don't use ST and can't exactly understand what is unique here, but I am pretty sure renaming something is something vim is very good at. You want to limit the scope, select visually and run :s on it. > It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. Similarly, it uses JSON for settings. Python is much more mainstream than vimscript, yes, but there are still people who don't know python and don't want to learn it. Learning python for them isn't very different from learning vimscript.
- lparry 14y ago
  >> It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. Similarly, it uses JSON for settings. >Python is much more mainstream than vimscript, yes, but there are still people who don't know python and don't want to learn it. Learning python for them isn't very different from learning vimscript. You've quite obviously never tried to code anything in vimscript, have an axe to grind with Python, or are Tim Pope. Vimscript is a horrible abomination that's painful to do just about anything in. Python is far, far superior. (Vim lover and Ruby guy here, but I'd pick just about any language over vimscript)
  - irahul 14y ago
    > You've quite obviously never tried to code anything in vimscript, have an axe to grind with Python, or are Tim Pope All your claims are preposterous. I have coded in Vimscript, I use Python and have no axe to grind; and I am not Tim Pope(duh). > Vimscript is a horrible abomination that's painful to do just about anything in. Python is far, far superior. I don't remember claiming Python is inferior to vimscript. Have you actually used vimscript, or are you speaking from superficial experience? Vimscript is not a general purpose programming language, but does the job of extending vim fine. I was in middle of writing a small function which syncs up nerdtree highlighting with bufexplorer buffer switch(came here to take a break). Here is what it looks like: function! ChangeBuffer() if bufwinnr(t:NERDTreeBufName) != -1 exe "normal! :NERDTreeFind\<cr>\<c-w>\<c-w>" endif endfunction let g:BufExplorerFuncRef = function('ChangeBuffer') The amount of general purpose programming involved is minimal. 1. BufExplorer provides a hook which takes a function reference. A variable assignment. 2. If nerdtree is active(simple function call), call the command to find the current buffer in nerdtree(vim specific normal command execution), and switch back to editing pane(again normal mode command) A good part of tasks make use of exe, nnoremap, iabbrev etc; and vimscript is powerful and pleasant enough for the rest(lists, dicts, simulated objects, variable namespacing...). It has it's quirks, but so has many mainstream languages - you know about the quirks when you are using the language, and avoid them.
    - 14y ago
silentbicycle 14y ago
Ok. I can see many of those being possible advantages, depending on taste. I find the option of a terminal (rather than a graphical interface) to be a major asset, because then it works with ssh* . Also, all the people I know using ST are ex-vimmers, and use its vim emulation mode. A data point, I suppose. And yes, agreed on the open-source-ness, though commercial support does have its advantages. * I know you can do X forwarding and so on, but, eh.
lelele 14y ago
"It’s too bad Sublime Text isn’t open source." Bad bad bad, if you are investing time in mastering a tool which could disappear tomorrow, or take a direction you don't like. This is one of the strongest reasons I chose GNU Emacs as my editor. I remember how burned I was when Visual Studio moved from VBScript to .NET as its macro language. All the time I had invested in learning its macro system and in writing macros went down the drain. Never again. "Its plugin API doesn’t allow setting tabstops manually, which I would like so I could write a plugin implementing true elastic tabstops." Elastic tabstops are awesome. This is a feature I do miss in Emacs.
- SCdF 14y ago
  To be completely fair, it's not like they are going to remotely delete it or anything, the current version which I like functions, and has no glaring bugs, and will continue to function. And if I did use emacs, and somehow it changed in a way that I hated, I really doubt I'd have the time to fix it. Work isn't going to pay me to sit around and write my own text editor.
  - lelele 14y ago
    I see your point. One day I'm going to write a guide to choosing your editor, or your trusty tools, for that matter. There are further advantages in choosing an open-source established editor. It all boils down to a trade-off. As long as you don't invest too much time into learning a tool, you don't mind losing your investment. Recently I have switched to Opera as my default browser. I couldn't stand Firefox anymore, Chrome didn't suit me. Opera is proprietary and closed-source, but then I'm not going to dig too much into its internals. Have a sweet day.
Cosman246 14y ago
>It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. I'm not really a Python person (I prefer Common Lisp, but that's another talk for another time), but GNU Emacs has Pymacs

irahul 14y ago

> You can use proportional fonts (I use Verdana) Vim uses what my terminal uses. No ideas if my terminal(terminator) allows proportional fonts, but I always have used monospaced. Proportional looks ugly to me when it comes to code. > The interface chrome is graphical, not text in a grid. This allows nice details such as a drop-shadow from the minimap when it covers the text and proportional fonts in the file tree’s filenames. Drop shadows? Umm, no thanks. > On a Mac with smooth scrolling, you can scroll smoothly pixel-by-pixel, instead of choppily line-by-line. Either I search for what I am looking for, jump to definition, or move screen by screen. I don't scroll - at all. If I did, I am reading lines of code, not rows of pixels. > You can easily rename a variable, I don't use ST and can't exactly understand what is unique here, but I am pretty sure renaming something is something vim is very good at. You want to limit the scope, select visually and run :s on it. > It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. Similarly, it uses JSON for settings. Python is much more mainstream than vimscript, yes, but there are still people who don't know python and don't want to learn it. Learning python for them isn't very different from learning vimscript.

lparry 14y ago
>> It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. Similarly, it uses JSON for settings. >Python is much more mainstream than vimscript, yes, but there are still people who don't know python and don't want to learn it. Learning python for them isn't very different from learning vimscript. You've quite obviously never tried to code anything in vimscript, have an axe to grind with Python, or are Tim Pope. Vimscript is a horrible abomination that's painful to do just about anything in. Python is far, far superior. (Vim lover and Ruby guy here, but I'd pick just about any language over vimscript)
- irahul 14y ago
  > You've quite obviously never tried to code anything in vimscript, have an axe to grind with Python, or are Tim Pope All your claims are preposterous. I have coded in Vimscript, I use Python and have no axe to grind; and I am not Tim Pope(duh). > Vimscript is a horrible abomination that's painful to do just about anything in. Python is far, far superior. I don't remember claiming Python is inferior to vimscript. Have you actually used vimscript, or are you speaking from superficial experience? Vimscript is not a general purpose programming language, but does the job of extending vim fine. I was in middle of writing a small function which syncs up nerdtree highlighting with bufexplorer buffer switch(came here to take a break). Here is what it looks like: function! ChangeBuffer() if bufwinnr(t:NERDTreeBufName) != -1 exe "normal! :NERDTreeFind\<cr>\<c-w>\<c-w>" endif endfunction let g:BufExplorerFuncRef = function('ChangeBuffer') The amount of general purpose programming involved is minimal. 1. BufExplorer provides a hook which takes a function reference. A variable assignment. 2. If nerdtree is active(simple function call), call the command to find the current buffer in nerdtree(vim specific normal command execution), and switch back to editing pane(again normal mode command) A good part of tasks make use of exe, nnoremap, iabbrev etc; and vimscript is powerful and pleasant enough for the rest(lists, dicts, simulated objects, variable namespacing...). It has it's quirks, but so has many mainstream languages - you know about the quirks when you are using the language, and avoid them.
  - 14y ago

silentbicycle 14y ago

Ok. I can see many of those being possible advantages, depending on taste. I find the option of a terminal (rather than a graphical interface) to be a major asset, because then it works with ssh* . Also, all the people I know using ST are ex-vimmers, and use its vim emulation mode. A data point, I suppose. And yes, agreed on the open-source-ness, though commercial support does have its advantages. * I know you can do X forwarding and so on, but, eh.

lelele 14y ago

"It’s too bad Sublime Text isn’t open source." Bad bad bad, if you are investing time in mastering a tool which could disappear tomorrow, or take a direction you don't like. This is one of the strongest reasons I chose GNU Emacs as my editor. I remember how burned I was when Visual Studio moved from VBScript to .NET as its macro language. All the time I had invested in learning its macro system and in writing macros went down the drain. Never again. "Its plugin API doesn’t allow setting tabstops manually, which I would like so I could write a plugin implementing true elastic tabstops." Elastic tabstops are awesome. This is a feature I do miss in Emacs.

SCdF 14y ago
To be completely fair, it's not like they are going to remotely delete it or anything, the current version which I like functions, and has no glaring bugs, and will continue to function. And if I did use emacs, and somehow it changed in a way that I hated, I really doubt I'd have the time to fix it. Work isn't going to pay me to sit around and write my own text editor.
- lelele 14y ago
  I see your point. One day I'm going to write a guide to choosing your editor, or your trusty tools, for that matter. There are further advantages in choosing an open-source established editor. It all boils down to a trade-off. As long as you don't invest too much time into learning a tool, you don't mind losing your investment. Recently I have switched to Opera as my default browser. I couldn't stand Firefox anymore, Chrome didn't suit me. Opera is proprietary and closed-source, but then I'm not going to dig too much into its internals. Have a sweet day.

Cosman246 14y ago

>It uses Python as its scripting language, so you can use Python libraries easily, and don’t have to learn an editor-specific language. I'm not really a Python person (I prefer Common Lisp, but that's another talk for another time), but GNU Emacs has Pymacs