Visual Studio 2008 - Love it. I don't notice any load-time issues, but maybe thats because I never close it.
With ViEmu it's my favourite environment in which to write and, more importantly, debug code.
Ask HN: Best code editor?
101–110 of 136 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#102My guilty pleasure is editpad pro on xp.
I should be using other editors, but I always end up using it whenever I'm on a windows box.
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#103vim
I have tried to use Vim a few weeks back. It works great. I have the minibuffexplorer and NERDTree installed. So it was basically like an IDE for me.
BUT everything goes downhill when the "window" arrangements are messed up. I am like, WTF did this open in the upper window. HTF do I move this "window/screen" from A to B. When this happens, I restart Vim and then open the files again. Really annoying. I wonder how expert Vim users go about this issue? Any tips?
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#104Textmate
VIM is awesome, spectacular even, but if you're on a Mac, you just simply have to use Textmate. It's really just an amazing piece of software.
Who else here is totally stoked about the free 2.0 update?
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#105vim
Is there a "learn you a vim" or "poignant guide to vim" out there? Because the handful of times I tried vi/vim I got some stuff done, but didn't really grok it. This goes for Emacs, too. I get the feeling I've never really used these tools the way they're meant to be used.
The best way to start with Vim is the included 'vimtutor' command, which opens up a document that guides you through basic editing operations (on itself).
After that, being around other Vim users (in person, on the vim-users mailing list, or subscribing to the !vim group on identi.ca, etc.) is best - being able to ask someone "Is there a better way to do X?" or have someone watching over your shoulder say "I can't believe you're doing that the slow way!" is a great way to learn.
The best long-term solution, I've found, is to remember that laziness is one of the great Programmer Virtues, and pay attention whenever some editing task gets tedious, and take a moment to look for a solution in the (amazing complete and well-indexed) Vim online help (":help") and perhaps the Vim Tips site (http://vim.wikia.com/)
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#106Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
vim is one of the most user friendly pieces of software I have ever used. The interface is incredibly efficient. The designers put great effort into making sure that common tasks were one or two keystrokes that usually don't even require moving your fingers off the home row. Just because it's not the most discoverable interface doesn't mean it's user hostile. I wish more software designers would look at vim as an exa…
Reading this crystalised some thoughts I've had for a long time, but never been able to express clearly. Yes, vim is a non-discoverable interface. http://www.google.com/search?q=discoverable+interface ( Side note: from that search I found this: http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taouu/html/ch01s01.html There it lists "... concision, expressiveness, ease, transparency, and scriptability." It then expands on each, but m…
First problem: vim has already implemented any feature you can imagine, with more refinements and related features than you can imagine. But you have to imagine it before you can find it...
Second problem: And even then, you can't find it in the help (it's organized like a professional index - like that of a legal textbook - you have to know what you're looking for before you can find it). Google solves this problem.
Google also helps solve the first problem, of "what to search for": you search by describing the difficulty or problem you have. A brilliant resource for this is Stackoverflow. It's works well for developer-centered, technical questions. The internet is the vim help: "a user generated FAQ". But this is just a way to cope with poor discoverability - the real answer is to design the interface to be discoverable.
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#108vim
I have tried to use Vim a few weeks back. It works great. I have the minibuffexplorer and NERDTree installed. So it was basically like an IDE for me. BUT everything goes downhill when the "window" arrangements are messed up. I am like, WTF did this open in the upper window. HTF do I move this "window/screen" from A to B. When this happens, I restart Vim and then open the files again. Really annoying. I wonder how exp…
:h windows
I prefer using tabs with Vim. Here's a short overview:
* :tabnew to open a new tab.
* :tabe to edit a file in a new tab.
* :q or :close to close a tab.
* :tabnext and :tabprevious to move between tabs.
* Ctrl+PgUp and Ctrl+PgDown are bound to :tabnext and :tabprevious. On my MacBook, I bind those to Cmd+[ and Cmd+].
* And, of course, :h tabs to find help.
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#109vim
Is there a "learn you a vim" or "poignant guide to vim" out there? Because the handful of times I tried vi/vim I got some stuff done, but didn't really grok it. This goes for Emacs, too. I get the feeling I've never really used these tools the way they're meant to be used.
you can check out these links http://www.moolenaar.net/habits.html, http://jmcpherson.org/editing.html, http://www.viemu.com/a-why-vi-vim.html. I loved vim after reading these articles.
Re: Ask HN: Best code editor?
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really didn't get on with aquamacs. It'll do your head in if you use emacs on other platforms. You can use other emacs builds on mac OS. I use Carbon Emacs. Emacs 23 has a native cocoa build now.
It's great, though, if you are used to Mac applications and learning Emacs for the first time. Kind of like training wheels for Emacs.
I used Aquamacs for 2-3 years but never really learned emacs until I swapped Aquamacs for Carbon Emacs and learned the real thing. Training wheels is a good analogy. You aren't really riding a bike if you use training wheels and they slow your progress in actually learning. Sure you can get to your friend's house, but you look like a dork.
I found the Emacs Starter Kit (http://github.com/technomancy/emacs-starter-kit/tree/master) and the Meet Emacs Peepcode Screencast (http://peepcode.com/products/meet-emacs) to be awesome. After a couple hours of working through the screencast, I was a 5x better Emacs user than I had been after 2+ years of Aquamacs use. You have to "get" Emacs and Aquamacs doesn't force you to do that. The $9 for the Peepcode screencast was the best money I've spent in a long time.