From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2006-08-28T03:03:03+09:00
Subject: Re: Why Ruby does not nead an ide

On Sun, Aug 27, 2006 at 07:36:27PM +0900, David Vallner wrote:
> 
> Installed size is so much not an argument if you have the iron to handle 
> it. If you don't, it's still not an argument since the fact you have to 
> work on Aunt Tilly's internet-enabled fridge to do your coding work 
> doesn't make an editor "better". If program performance is a metric you 
> consider honestly important, what the hell are you doing on a Ruby 
> mailing list at all?

Yeah, 'cause things never add up.


> 
> Just how often do you edit text files of insane sizes again? If and only 
> if it were the bulk of your editing work, would it be a relevant reason 
> to choose your primary editor as one that can open those files. Unless 
> you work on Aunt Tilly's internet-enabled fridge where you can't fit two 
> to use one as a backup for these cases.

Yeah, 'cause there's only one edge case in the world.


> 
> And... To save and quit, vim is ESC : w g - five keypresses. With the 
> shift key having to be held down too - if running in console mode, I 
> doubt it's possible to detect standalone modifier keypresses. Emacs is 
> C-x C-c Space Space (for one buffer) - siz keypresses. ZOMG 
> FINGERSTRAIN! (Muah.)

Yeah, 'cause that's the only instance where Vim wins on keypresses.


> 
> It boils down to personal preference and nothing more. Vim is probably 
> better for people that can estimate line numbers in their head, since 
> you win most of the efficiency in being able to type the commands off 
> the top of your head, Emacs for if you can hack elisp like there's no 
> tomorrow (the vim scripting language is rather basic and would probably 
> hit a complexity wall with some problems), or if you can work easier 
> with integration of all the features as opposed to the vim way of 
> hopping between console windows / screen wossnames / alien-machine 
> interface pseudopods.

Actually, the fact that Vim doesn't use Scheme is a major negative, for
my taste.  Too bad.  I still loathe the EMACS interface.


> 
> So... Cut out the editor trolling, neither side has real arguments 
> anyway, just different needs that the editors satisfy in different measures.

Hey, I just find all this OS vs. editor holy war stuff funny.  If you
want to be offended, though, I can't stop you.


> 
> For interested parties, I use neither side of that holy war. SciTE / 
> gedit / kate depending on current operating system for simple things or 
> in a pinch, nano / joe from a console for five-second config file 
> touchup, Eclipse whenever I need a feature that's outside the scope of 
> actually editing text and more the responsibility of a development tool. 
> (3.2 working sets considered sexy.)

SciTE is most excellent, for when I'm "forced" to use a GUI editor.
Can't stand gedit and Kate, though.

Nothing else I've used enhances my productivity as much as Vim, though.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
"Real ugliness is not harsh-looking syntax, but having to
build programs out of the wrong concepts." - Paul Graham