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Nova by Panic

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Re: Nova by Panic

#161

Post by hankman86 »

My biggest concern about this editor is actually the lack of cross-platform support. At our company, developers use a mix of Linux desktops, Windows PCs and Macs. And I think that’s actually an asset. Why force everyone onto the same platform? Developers know best what technical setup they are most productive with. Not to mention that being able to share settings and launch configurations across platforms is a big plus in favour of VSCode.

I totally get the performance argument. That’s why I will never use a Java-based IDE again. Like JetBrains IDEs are just painfully slow where every key stroke has this additional lag before something appears on screen. But thankfully VSCode isn’t like that. Whatever upside another editor might be offering wouldn’t make much of a difference for me.

I fear that the days of native productivity apps are over.

Re: Nova by Panic

#162

Post by coldtea »

biztos wrote: post #81

I tried this out some months ago and had really mixed feelings, but I will give it another shot because generally speaking, Panic is awesome! My main complaints at the time were a confusing extensions ecosystem; difficulty rolling your own; and the sense that (as with Coda) "programmer" means a person hand-coding web sites with HTML+CSS and maybe Javascript or PHP. Seemed like they weren't trying to convince anybody…

>I tried this out some months ago and had really mixed feelings, but I will give it another shot because generally speaking, Panic is awesome!

Are they? They have a long history of getting bored with projects and cancelling them or letting them languish. Not the best assurance for a long term commitment like an editor...

Re: Nova by Panic

#163

Post by coldtea »

echelon wrote: post #12
micromacrofoot wrote: post #5

I've admired Panic for the entirety of my career, they're always doing really nice work, and I'm glad they're still going strong in a time where native desktop apps aren't really the du jour.

Quoted post unavailable.

Well, the strategy/all over the place, is something that can be argued.

But "Also, they're hiring, but they don't do equity, and they want you to be physically located at their office?". Well, it's up to them. You don't have to go work there.

Re: Nova by Panic

#164

Post by michelb »

I like how Nova is getting solid updates regularly. It must be tough to write a new code editor from scratch knowing that you are up against VSCode, Sublime and Jetbrains apps. I think it's going to fit in nicely though, for a large enough group of Mac users to be a sustainable venture.

I'm not quite ready to replace my existing apps but it's getting there.

Re: Nova by Panic

#165

Post by shaicoleman »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #83

Gorgeous design, I wish it would be available outside of the Apple ecosystem, I'd consider it even if I've been very happy with my paid Sublime4 license. I think Sublime HQ showed that making a multiplatform editor is not much more difficult, but hey...

> I think Sublime HQ showed that making a multiplatform editor is not much more difficult, but hey...

The developers of Sublime have a different view on that:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29638810

Re: Nova by Panic

#166

Post by robinduckett »

I used to love Panic, but since I became a professional developer, I switched to better tools.

They seem to cater solely to amateur freelance. It's not a bad audience, I'm just not a part of it anymore.

Re: Nova by Panic

#167

Post by emteycz »

Cyberdog wrote: post #143
threatofrain wrote: post #113

Another interesting competitor: https://www.jetbrains.com/fleet/ Previous discussion on Nova https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24495330 (Sept 2020) [542 comments]

Still not a Mac-native app. The tab, with its always-visible (as opposed to just on hover) close widget on the wrong side, is a big give-away.

Well, thanks for that. I hate this native behavior.

Re: Nova by Panic

#168

Post by noduerme »

cercatrova wrote: post #98

I tried Nova when it first launched and again recently, and I switched back to VSCode due to the numerous plugins and prodigious output of its creators every month. In my opinion, Nova (through its lack) shows the true power of network effects, even in code editors, because even though VSCode is an inferior product in many respects, like speed and resource usage, it still wins due to its sheer popularity and extensib…

> it is the story of JavaScript itself: a bad language that only works due to its popularity

This is a profound observation that gets to the heart of the matter with both VSCode and Javascript, both of which I resisted as long as humanly possible. What gives them the greatest utility is that they're immensely popular, in spite of not being the best tool for the job. I came to VS from 10+ years in Eclipse, and to Javascript as a main cross-platform client language only with the demise of Air/Flash.

But the "network effects" or, let's say, the value of the community-driven ecosystem, is undeniable. In 2008 if you wanted to build 3D games for web, you pretty much had to use Flash - and there was a sizable community maintaining libraries. The environment was imperfect for its own reasons, although certainly no worse than cross-platform JS is right now.

Maybe another way to state it is: If you get enough good coders around even the junkiest tooling, they'll make good code.

But I can't think of any other industry that really works this way, that gathers around a bad standard like buffalo around a waterhole in the desert. I think it's a major flaw in software development in the 2010s-2020s that in order to dance between these walled gardens, independent developers so often have to use tooling that wasn't made for the job. Flash/Air was a breach in all their walls, and that was a reason it had to be made an example out of.

Re: Nova by Panic

#169

Post by aidenn0 »

iamdbtoo wrote: post #121
cercatrova wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That employees are "screwed over" is always a weird argument to me. Presumably these employees are free to choose the company they work for, and so they could've chosen companies that provide equity over those who don't. I was under the impression that Mailchimp paid well through salary and bonuses. To be compensated for many years and then cry foul when the founders exit and the employee having gotten nothing (becau…

What about the part where the founders actively steered employees away from equity? What about the part where they lied?

They broke a promise; maybe they lied when they made the promise.

I might say I'll not sell my house until my kids graduate high school, but if someone offered me $20M that could change my mind.

Re: Nova by Panic

#170

Post by [deleted] »

cercatrova wrote: post #98

I tried Nova when it first launched and again recently, and I switched back to VSCode due to the numerous plugins and prodigious output of its creators every month. In my opinion, Nova (through its lack) shows the true power of network effects, even in code editors, because even though VSCode is an inferior product in many respects, like speed and resource usage, it still wins due to its sheer popularity and extensib…

[deleted]
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