Overview

Kakoune

Stacks19

Followers36

Votes30

GitHub Stars10.6K

Forks751

Remacs

Stacks1

Followers4

Votes0

Kakoune vs Remacs: What are the differences?

Introduction

Kakoune and Remacs are two popular text editors with unique features that cater to different needs. Below are key differences between the two.

Mode of Operation: Kakoune operates in a modal editing style where the user switches between modes for different operations, similar to Vim. Remacs, on the other hand, is an Emacs variant that maintains the traditional non-modal editing style, allowing users to perform all actions in a single mode.
Extensibility: Kakoune emphasizes minimalism and extensibility through a powerful selection model that can be extended using the built-in scripting language. In contrast, Remacs stays true to the extensibility of Emacs, offering a vast array of features and a well-established ecosystem of plugins and packages for extensive customization.
Backend: Kakoune is designed with a client-server architecture, allowing for remote editing, multiple cursors, and seamless integration with external tools, while Remacs is a fork of Emacs that aims to maintain compatibility with Emacs core functionality while introducing improvements and bug fixes.
Configuration: Kakoune's configuration is file-based, using a simple text file to define keybindings and settings. Remacs, being an Emacs variant, has a highly customizable configuration system based on Lisp, providing flexibility in defining complex commands and configurations.
User Interface: Kakoune has a minimalist user interface with a focus on efficiency and simplicity, utilizing a command-line interface for most interactions. Remacs, on the other hand, offers a more visually rich user interface with extensive GUI support for modern features such as image viewing and inline annotations.
Community and Development: Kakoune has a smaller but dedicated community that focuses on performance and innovative features, with regular updates and improvements. Remacs, as part of the larger Emacs ecosystem, benefits from a vast community of developers contributing to its continuous development and feature enhancements.

In Summary, Kakoune and Remacs differ in their mode of operation, extensibility, backend architecture, configuration system, user interface, and community support.

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Detailed Comparison

Kakoune	Remacs
Kakoune is a code editor heavily inspired by Vim, as such most of its commands are similar to vi’s ones. Kakoune can operate in two modes, normal and insertion. In insertion mode, keys are directly inserted into the current buffer. In normal mode, keys are used to manipulate the current selection and to enter insertion mode.	A community-driven port of Emacs to Rust.
Multiple selections as a central way of interacting;Powerful selection manipulation primitives;Powerful text manipulation primitives;Client-Server architecture;Simple interaction with external programs	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 10.6K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 751	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 19	Stacks 1
Followers 36	Followers 4
Votes 30	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 7 Multiple selections 7 Fast editing 5 Interactivity 4 Consistency of the underlying language 4 UNIX citizen	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	Emacs Rust

What are some alternatives to Kakoune, Remacs?

Sublime Text

Sublime Text is available for OS X, Windows and Linux. One license is all you need to use Sublime Text on every computer you own, no matter what operating system it uses. Sublime Text uses a custom UI toolkit, optimized for speed and beauty, while taking advantage of native functionality on each platform.

Atom

At GitHub, we're building the text editor we've always wanted. A tool you can customize to do anything, but also use productively on the first day without ever touching a config file. Atom is modern, approachable, and hackable to the core. We can't wait to see what you build with it.

Vim

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Neovim

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TextMate

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