Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much RAM is in that thing? 4 GiB? I hope you turned swap on...
2gb, I think. Might be 4. It runs fine, though. A text editor, even with lots of features, is less load than a browser session for a complex website. Likewise, local node.js servers aren't very expensive.
In general, any long-running environment that can generate a lot of garbage presents a risk of triggering the OOM killer, especially when you have to share your development environment with effectively a whole 'nother OS. Enabling swap helps mitigate that risk.