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Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

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Re: Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

#73
nvi2 [0]: I got to like the simplicity of nvi when installing Void Linux on my laptop, but it had some annoying bugs that made me switch to nvi2. In general, it feels like `good' software; powerful enough by virtue of being a 1:1 vi clone with a few crucial improvements (multibyte, multi-undo, etc.), but simple enough to hack on if I miss some feature. Though no autocomplete means it's not suitable for more verbose languages, like Java.

QuickJS [1]: qjscalc is my go-to scientific calculator, and qjs my go-to JavaScript implementation for simple programs. The C interface is very nice to use, too. All in all, it feels very much like a "complete" engine, even if not quite as fast as one with JIT.

w3m [2]: Somewhat lacking as a web browser, but a very good pager. Would take it over less any day. Also has the best table display of any text-mode browser, supports inline images, and is rather extensible.

Wine [3]: It's gotten so good that I no longer have to dual boot Windows. Still not perfect, but definitely on my list of "good software".

[0]: https://github.com/lichray/nvi2

[1]: https://bellard.org/quickjs/

[2]: https://github.com/tats/w3m

[3]: https://www.winehq.org/

Re: Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

#75

Not especially extraordinary, and I'm sure there are tools that are better for other people, but, for my workflow, apple notes has been fantastic. Any time I think of something cool, see something cool, whatever - I add it / paste it into a long running note I have labeled "Cool stuff." Whenever I'm bored, I just read through it and usually find something I didn't have time to dig into more thoroughly before. Or, if…

Seconded. Many of my random thoughts in Notes have become full-blown projects with great results. The best part is that I never even think about it, so it’s analogous to carrying a notebook around at all times. I’ve tried PKM apps like Obsidian and a few others, but none are quite as effortless or support drawing as well. I do wish the Pencil was supported on phones.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

#76
post #70
post #45

The GoLand IDE. Makes Go programming a breeze. Can't imagine programming in Go without it. Also used some of the other Intellij IDE's, including Intellij Idea (Java) and WebStorm (JavaScript). All very nice products.

What makes you prefer GoLand over another editor with LSP integration? I don’t write much Go but I’m curious if it provides other features for when I inevitably learn it

I have used Visual Studio Code (do not know if it integrates with LSP, but I generally found it lacking in search and such). The other IDE/editor I really enjoyed, particularly for Python, was Sublime Text. I haven't used it recently for Go programming, but when I had used it a few years ago, it wasn't very good because of a janky toolchain it required. GoLand, on the other hand, is very polished. Of course, it's unfair to compare a paid product vs free/freemium products, but as far as the experience goes, GoLand is pretty much unbeatable.

Things I really enjoy about GoLand:

- Excellent flagging of syntax and type errors; excellent warnings about misspelled variable names, cues for shadowing of variables etc.

- Provides excellent guidance on following Go conventions such as comment structure, variable naming etc.

- Excellent autoimports (and guesses the pretty well) and autoformatting, which, combined with the flagging of errors/warnings ensures pretty seamless development, minimizing compile/run cycles for me (can't imagine how it would be with emacs, which has been my preferred editor for many previous languages).

- Nice refactoring support (but can get dicey when doing external symbols that end up affecting many packages).

- Great documentation tooltips that make it very easy to hop back and forth from callsites to definition sites. - Excellent omnisearch.

- Beautiful UI and UI elements (although I hear they are taking it in the VS Code direction of late, which will be a disaster).

- Fairly responsive and good at indexing large codebases, just works for the most part.

Re: Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

#77

Not especially extraordinary, and I'm sure there are tools that are better for other people, but, for my workflow, apple notes has been fantastic. Any time I think of something cool, see something cool, whatever - I add it / paste it into a long running note I have labeled "Cool stuff." Whenever I'm bored, I just read through it and usually find something I didn't have time to dig into more thoroughly before. Or, if…

Seconded. Many of my random thoughts in Notes have become full-blown projects with great results. The best part is that I never even think about it, so it’s analogous to carrying a notebook around at all times. I’ve tried PKM apps like Obsidian and a few others, but none are quite as effortless or support drawing as well. I do wish the Pencil was supported on phones.

> I do wish the [Apple] Pencil was supported on phones

I have a Galaxy Note 10 and am not the biggest fan, but maybe if I didn't insist on using it with an incompatible screen protector and free software my writing experience would be better.

Re: Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

#78
post #76
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you prefer GoLand over another editor with LSP integration? I don’t write much Go but I’m curious if it provides other features for when I inevitably learn it

I have used Visual Studio Code (do not know if it integrates with LSP, but I generally found it lacking in search and such). The other IDE/editor I really enjoyed, particularly for Python, was Sublime Text. I haven't used it recently for Go programming, but when I had used it a few years ago, it wasn't very good because of a janky toolchain it required. GoLand, on the other hand, is very polished. Of course, it's unf…

Gotcha, thanks for the insight. Quick background on LSP: I believe vscode either created or popularized accessible LSP integration for other editors. Not sure which it is though

Re: Ask HN: What was the best software that you used during 2022?

#79
post #72

- helix https://helix-editor.com/ - cleanshot x https://cleanshot.com/ - btm https://github.com/ClementTsang/bottom

> helix

> select syntax tree nodes instead of plain text

Now that is interesting! I wish we could leave the text age for programming already. This doesn't seem to be that (it very much claims to be a text editor), but maybe people working on semantic enhancements for program editing can learn something here.

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