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Atom vs Emacs vs Vim: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this markdown code, we will be discussing the key differences between Atom, Emacs, and Vim, which are popular code editors used by developers. Markdown is a lightweight formatting syntax that can be used to style text on the web.
User Interface and Customization: One key difference between Atom, Emacs, and Vim lies in their user interfaces and customization options. Atom provides a modern and intuitive user interface with a wide range of customizable themes and packages. Emacs, on the other hand, has a highly customizable user interface that can be adjusted according to individual preferences using its built-in Lisp scripting language. Vim offers a more minimalistic user interface, optimized for efficient text editing, but also provides various customization options through plugins and configuration files.
Modes and Functionality: Another significant difference between these editors is their modes and functionality. Atom is primarily designed as a text editor, providing a wide range of features for coding, including syntax highlighting, code folding, and autocomplete. Emacs, on the other hand, is a highly extensible platform that can be used not only as a text editor but also as an email client, file manager, and more. It offers a vast array of modes and packages that can enhance its functionality. Vim, renowned for its modal editing, offers powerful features like quick navigation, macro recording, and text manipulation, making it highly efficient for editing large code bases.
Learning Curve: Atom is considered to have a relatively low learning curve, making it accessible to developers of all skill levels. It provides a user-friendly interface and comprehensive documentation, which makes it easier for beginners to start coding. Emacs, however, has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive customization options and unique keybindings. It requires users to invest time in learning the Emacs Lisp programming language to leverage its full potential. Vim, with its modal editing approach, also has a learning curve associated with mastering its various commands and modes.
Community and Ecosystem: Atom has a large and active community of developers contributing to its open-source ecosystem. This results in a wide variety of available packages, themes, and plugins to enhance the editor's capabilities. Emacs, with its long history, has one of the most mature and established communities. It offers a vast collection of packages and plugins developed throughout its extensive lifespan. Vim also has a dedicated community, known for its lightweight and efficient plugins that further extend Vim's functionality.
Extensibility: The extensibility of these editors is another crucial aspect to consider. Atom, being built on web technologies like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, provides a highly extensible platform. Developers can create their own packages and themes using familiar web technologies, making it easier to extend its functionality. Emacs, due to its Lisp scripting language and vast collection of available packages, allows for significant customization and extensibility. Vim, also known for its extensibility, offers a scripting language called Vimscript, which allows users to create their own plugins and customize its behavior.
Performance and Speed: Performance and speed can vary between these editors. Atom, being built on web technologies, can sometimes be criticized for its slower startup time and higher memory usage compared to other editors. Emacs, while highly customizable, can also be affected by performance issues when using heavy packages or running complex scripts. Vim, renowned for its speed and efficiency, is designed to optimize text editing performance, making it well-suited for handling large files and executing commands quickly.
In Summary, Atom provides a modern and customizable user interface, focusing on code editing with a low learning curve, while Emacs offers extensive customization, broad functionality beyond text editing, with a steeper learning curve. Vim, known for its efficient text editing and modal approach, provides speed and extensibility through its lightweight philosophy and plugin ecosystem.
For a Visual Studio Code/Atom developer that works mostly with Node.js/TypeScript/Ruby/Go and wants to get rid of graphic-text-editors-IDE-like at once, which one is worthy of investing time to pick up?
I'm a total n00b on the subject, but I've read good things about Neovim's Lua support, and I wonder what would be the VIM response/approach for it?
Neovim can basically do everything Vim can with one major advantage - the number of contributors to the code base is just so much wider (Vim is ~100% maintained only by B. Mooleanaar). Whatever you learn for Neovim you can also apply to Vim and vice versa. And of course there is the never ending Vim vs Emacs controversy - but better not get into that war.
Actually, the biggest advantage with Neovim (as a VS user) is that you can embed REAL Neovim as the editor UI, rather than using a "Vim emulation", you're using actual NVIM, embedded in VS!
"asvetliakov.vscode-neovim" is the extension you are looking for:
- Install the 'vscode-neovim; extension (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=asvetliakov.vscode-neovim)
- Install Neovim version 0.5+ nightly
- Start winning.
(You can install neovim-nightly separately for just vscode, I usually build and install it to /opt/nvim - it's enough enough to do - let me know if you need help).
Works wonderfully. It might not work out of the box if you have some 100K epic nvim initialization file, but the plugin documents a workaround for having an embedding/VS specific configuration.
I don't actually notice much of a difference between the two, as the end result looks identical. If you use Vim and are switch to Neovim it's an extremely easy 1-minute process. I switched from Vim to Neovim. I can't say I found much of a difference, but the key points where Neovim could be better than just vim is that first, there are much more people maintaining Neovim compared to vim, which means fewer bugs and a modern code base. It also has a smaller code base which might result in a small speed improvement. Another thing is that it's basically just a fork of vim, so what harm can it do? ;)
I recommend using vim 8+
it has native plugin support
if you need language supports you can install the package vim-nox which will come with support for python, lua, ruby, etc
It truly depends on whether you want to completely avoid GUI and stick to TUI and command lines. If you want to edit all of your codes within a terminal, then Vim or neovim would be the choice. Emacs can be run in a terminal, but the functionality is limited. Most people use Emacs using GUI and emacs-client not to use too much memory.
My general preference is to use an independent text editor, which is better if it is highly customizable and programmable. So, I have used Emacs for several years. For beginners, I guess Emacs requires significant time to learn to fully enjoy its wonderful functionalities. In that sense, using atom would be a recommendable option.
Regardless of all the situations, learning basic vim in the terminal will help you in any case. In summary, I recommend 1. vim as a default editor in the terminal 2. atom if you are a beginner, or 3. Emacs if you have a long-term plan to master a programmable editor
Other editors like sublime text, VS code, and so forth are also worth learning and using. But, no matter which editor you choose, stick to one or two until you become an advanced user. Being able to use most text editors at an intermediate level is waste of time.
I hope it helps.
The hints on the codebase's contributors and the VSCode integration helped me make up my mind.
I really appreciate all comments, though.
Thanks a bunch!
Since communication with Github is not necessary, the Atom is less convenient in working with text and code. Sublim's support and understanding of projects is best for us. Notepad for us is a completely outdated solution with an unacceptable interface. We use a good theme for Sublim ayu-dark
Pros of Atom
- Free529
- Open source449
- Modular design343
- Hackable321
- Beautiful UI316
- Backed by github147
- Built with node.js119
- Web native113
- Community107
- Packages35
- Cross platform18
- Nice UI5
- Multicursor support5
- TypeScript editor5
- Open source, lots of packages, and so configurable3
- cli start3
- Simple but powerful3
- Chrome Inspector works IN EDITOR3
- Snippets3
- Code readability2
- It's powerful2
- Awesome2
- Smart TypeScript code completion2
- Well documented2
- works with GitLab1
- "Free", "Hackable", "Open Source", The Awesomness1
- full support1
- vim support1
- Split-Tab Layout1
- Apm publish minor1
- Consistent UI on all platforms1
- User friendly1
- Hackable and Open Source1
- Publish0
Pros of Emacs
- Vast array of extensions65
- Have all you can imagine44
- Everything i need in one place40
- Portability39
- Customer config32
- Your config works on any platform16
- Low memory consumption13
- Perfect for monsters11
- All life inside one program10
- Extendable, portable, fast - all at your fingertips8
- Enables extremely rapid keyboard-only navigation6
- Widely-used keybindings (e.g. by bash)5
- Extensible in Lisp5
- Runs everywhere important5
- FOSS Software4
- Powerful multilanguage IDE4
- Git integration4
- May be old but always reliable4
- Asynchronous3
- Powerful UI3
- Huge ecosystem1
Pros of Vim
- Comes by default in most unix systems (remote editing)347
- Fast328
- Highly configurable312
- Less mouse dependence297
- Lightweight247
- Speed145
- Plugins100
- Hardcore97
- It's for pros82
- Vertically split windows65
- Open-source30
- Modal editing25
- No remembering shortcuts, instead "talks" to the editor22
- It stood the Test of Time21
- Unicode16
- VimPlugins13
- Everything is on the keyboard13
- Stick with terminal13
- Dotfiles12
- Flexible Indenting11
- Hands stay on the keyboard10
- Efficient and powerful10
- Programmable10
- Everywhere9
- Large number of Shortcuts9
- A chainsaw for text editing8
- Unmatched productivity8
- Developer speed7
- Super fast7
- Makes you a true bearded developer7
- Because its not Emacs7
- Modal editing changes everything7
- You cannot exit6
- Themes6
- EasyMotion5
- Most and most powerful plugins of any editor5
- Shell escapes and shell imports :!<command> and !!cmd5
- Intergrated into most editors5
- Shortcuts5
- Great on large text files5
- Habit5
- Plugin manager options. Vim-plug, Pathogen, etc5
- Intuitive, once mastered4
- Perfect command line editor4
- Not MicroSoft1
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Cons of Atom
- Slow with large files19
- Slow startup7
- Most of the time packages are hard to find.2
- No longer maintained1
- Cannot Run code with F51
- Can be easily Modified1
Cons of Emacs
- So good and extensible, that one can get sidetracked4
- Hard to learn for beginners4
- Not default preinstalled in GNU/linux1
Cons of Vim
- Ugly UI8
- Hard to learn5
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