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Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

helix-editor.com

81–90 of 169 posts

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#81
post #42

I really like helix. So much that I've switched from jetbrains to neovim. I think hx is way more "discoverable" than vim with it's "whichkey" by default functionality and it's motion-first structure is way more attractive to me. As someone used to an IDE, I just really want git integration and other things. As soon as they land on a plugin system, maybe it will be viable.

> I really like helix. So much that I’ve switched from jetbrains to neovim. This is a very confusing statement. Helix caused you to drop JetBrains IDEs for another editor (that is not Helix) entirely?

Neovim is closer to Helix but satisfies the needs in the second paragraph?

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The classic mapping is Alt/Meta to send escape when tapped, because terminals send Alt-q as `ESC q`. I have no strong opinions about how people lay out their keyboards, other than that people should try a split key if they haven't. My layout sends ESC when Alt is tapped, capslock is for backspace.

What about holding spacebar to overheat the computer and exit emacs?

What about it?

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#85
post #20

For anyone who's used to fd/jk/kj/jj/jf or the like in Vim as an alias to ESC to exit insert mode, it looks like Helix is not too usable as of today: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/2612 I would've considered exploring Helix myself if it wasn't for this.

I use jj and jk to escape insert mode just fine...

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#87
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you give an example of an edit you couldn’t express?

Say I am at the last line of a part of a function, that I would like to delete - maybe some debug output. In VIM, I will look at the relative line numbers and immediately see that I would like to delete up to the number 8. Then I simply write d8 or d8h, and I am done. As far as I can tell - I may be wrong - in Helix, I would have to first do 8 and then 9xd. Note the number 9 in there. This is due to the fact that in…

In Helix you'd have to x downward or use v to enter visual mode. But you initially said that you "found kakoune bindings limiting". In kakoune you can 8Kxd, or 8Kd on less recent versions. The vim approach is usually superior for simple commands like "delete N lines", the kakoune approach is superior when you want to compose commands, e.g. `%siff((sandcor` is "select all `if`, find `(`, select inside `(`, select all `and`, change to `or`"

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#88
post #25
post #20

For anyone who's used to fd/jk/kj/jj/jf or the like in Vim as an alias to ESC to exit insert mode, it looks like Helix is not too usable as of today: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/2612 I would've considered exploring Helix myself if it wasn't for this.

Remap capslock to CTRL when held and ESC when tapped. Good idea for vim too

I tried that for a while, but having ESC on release instead of on press just didn't feel right for me

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#89
post #85
post #20

For anyone who's used to fd/jk/kj/jj/jf or the like in Vim as an alias to ESC to exit insert mode, it looks like Helix is not too usable as of today: https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/2612 I would've considered exploring Helix myself if it wasn't for this.

I use jj and jk to escape insert mode just fine...

Try typing word "taj" and exiting the insert mode using your jk right after that last 'j'.

Re: Helix: Post-Modern Text Editor

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just notably bad for beginners, and getting worse all the time. I've been in software for over three decades and I haven't seen the obsession this bad since Java, which has apparently come a long way towards UX, and also didn't ever put out new BS every six weeks that I can recall. Rust on the other hand, is an absolute nightmare for beginners. I've spent a lot of time throughout my career working with non-progr…

I’m curious though how as a user of the editor the programming language even matters (beyond how complex it is to compile). And if you do want to contribute I’m reasonably certain that helix by virtue of how it’s programmed is the easiest to contribute to I have come across.

I see what you mean, I suppose I should have clarified.

I want to dig into one of these editors for a stronger understanding of how they work, and using something as obtuse as Rust is a total nonstarter for me.

I read through the source of micro over a few weekends during the 2020 lockdowns and really enjoyed the experience, though I was woefully underprepared with spending that much time looking at Go, which I wasn't familiar with at the time. Even still, I felt relatively confident within a few hours.

Conversely, I've seen things like: https://fasterthanli.me/articles/a-half-hour-to-learn-rust from Rusties that just made me sick to my stomach. It's just ridiculous how many syntactical elements there are, and how little is done for the end-user by way of ergonomics. To top it off, people who've spend dozens (!!!) of hours with Rust still struggle with it. With Go, Python, maybe C, and others, I can typically bring students or grads up to speed enough to at least have a decent conversation about crucial code within a single workday.

I do think that the Rust ecosystem is a brittle one, despite the grandiose claims of safety and security, in that few people whose time is valuable and whose experience is vast would be spending their time wisely coming up to speed with the language in any scenario, even outside of text editors. The

Again, I'm not starting a Rust-bashing thread, esp not with someone invested in Rust, but that's where I'm coming from.

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