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Nova 9

nova.app

31–40 of 107 posts

Re: Nova 9

#31
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forget the exact details, but I also had problems getting things like Black, mypy, flake8, isort, etc. running. VS Code is really good about making that all work with minimal effort. Emacs is a bit more effort, but it's flawless with a tiny bit of tweaking. I never was able to get the same results out of Nova, and that's what ultimately pushed me away. I don't have anything bad to say about Nova, except that I pers…

When Nova first came out I wrote a small extension [0] to provide an autopep8 formatting, but there is too much manual management on the user's end. Since there is no API to manage extension dependencies, the user has to manually install and specify the path to where `autopep8` is, which to my mind is a lot of friction. Compare that to VSCode, where there is a whole API [1] for formatting extensions! [0]: https://git…

That matches my experience. I hope that gets straightened out!

Re: Nova 9

#32
post #22

Deal breaker for me (last time I checked it out) was the lack of a built in git diff. I don't need anything fancy, but I can't live in an editor without it. Does anybody know if this is planned or workable in later versions?

That feature used to be in Coda. It’s hard for me to understand why it isn’t higher up the list or already implemented.

Re: Nova 9

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone lives on the SV scale-at-all-costs treadmill. Some people are happy building quality tools for a discerning audience. That's pretty much what Panic has been doing for the last 20+ years.

I understand that, and I've been buying their software for at least 10+ years, starting with CandyBar. My point is, for the effort it requires, I don't see it paying off. I would bet money that Nova will be discontinued in less than 5 years, while VS Code will not.

If we put aside get-rich-quick options, if they are breaking even, for some value of breaking even, then why not?.. But you're right it doesn't seem to be sustainable long term with a wealth of free options available.

Re: Nova 9

#34
post #22

Deal breaker for me (last time I checked it out) was the lack of a built in git diff. I don't need anything fancy, but I can't live in an editor without it. Does anybody know if this is planned or workable in later versions?

"We don't have built-in diff yet, but it's on our list!" - halfway down the front page of nova.app

Yeah... that was there when they launched it if I recall correctly. Oh well

Re: Nova 9

#35

I'm happy to see them try, but rationally, I just don't understand why Panic is even trying. The trade-offs are just too steep. They won't ever have the ecosystem of open-source, Electron-based editors. And whatever you gain from being mac-native is just not enough of a benefit for almost all development.

I want this to be wrong so badly, but I grudgingly admit it to be true.

I want the native app from a boutique software shop to somehow be better than the open-source alternatives.

Re: Nova 9

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone lives on the SV scale-at-all-costs treadmill. Some people are happy building quality tools for a discerning audience. That's pretty much what Panic has been doing for the last 20+ years.

I understand that, and I've been buying their software for at least 10+ years, starting with CandyBar. My point is, for the effort it requires, I don't see it paying off. I would bet money that Nova will be discontinued in less than 5 years, while VS Code will not.

Perhaps you and the people at Panic have different definitions of "paying off."

Keeping a company afloat, bring proud of your work, working with a good group of people, and providing for one's family sound like pretty good payoffs to me.

Much better than obsessing over all the things that FAANG-types talk about on HN: What "level" engineer I am, pre-counting stock options (fake money) before vesting, or worrying about whether the project I work on will be cancelled because it "only" makes $10 million profit a year.

Re: Nova 9

#38

I'm happy to see them try, but rationally, I just don't understand why Panic is even trying. The trade-offs are just too steep. They won't ever have the ecosystem of open-source, Electron-based editors. And whatever you gain from being mac-native is just not enough of a benefit for almost all development.

I want this to be wrong so badly , but I grudgingly admit it to be true. I want the native app from a boutique software shop to somehow be better than the open-source alternatives.

Absolutely. Also, I want a small company to succeed against Big Tech (VSCode) and Big Dog (JetBrains).

Re: Nova 9

#39

Nova is absolutely gorgeous. I'm so done with Electron apps, even ones "done well". There's a lot to be said for fast, native apps that look and feel like they belong on the platform you're running them on. That said, Nova's Python support wasn't in the ballpark of VS Code's. But testing it for a while soured me on VS Code, and I ended up switching back to Emacs (which has outstanding Python support via LSP these day…

Emacs with EVIL? If so, do you like the integration?

Re: Nova 9

#40
When I last tried Nova, debugging and tasks were the biggest gaps for my workflows in VSCode. I’m excited to give it another try! I’d happily buy a license to switch to a native macOS editor/IDE.
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