CodeMirror vs Monaco Editor: What are the differences?

CodeMirror and Monaco Editor are popular web-based code editors that enhance the development experience in the browser. Let's explore the key differences between them.

1. Design and Origin: CodeMirror is a community-driven project with its development happening in an open-source manner. It has been around for a longer time and has a larger pool of contributors. On the other hand, Monaco Editor is backed by Microsoft and is specifically designed for its products. While both editors are highly capable, their origin and design philosophy differ.

2. Integrations and Ecosystem: API. Monaco Editor, on the other hand, has deep integrations with Microsoft products like Visual Studio Code. It allows developers to build rich code editing experiences within their applications with features similar to those in Visual Studio Code.

3. Performance and Efficiency: codebases. With its efficient rendering and built-in language services, Monaco Editor can handle large files and provide a smooth editing experience even for resource-intensive programming tasks.

4. Customization and Extensibility: Editor, on the other hand, provides a more streamlined customization experience, with options to override certain behavior or add custom editor components. Its extensibility is focused on providing a consistent experience with the core functionalities.

5. Collaboration and Sharing: CodeMirror offers features like collaborative editing and sharing of code snippets through addons or external tools. These features are not part of the core editor but can be added through plugins. Monaco Editor, on the other hand, provides built-in collaboration capabilities, allowing multiple users to edit code simultaneously, making it suitable for real-time collaboration scenarios.

In summary, CodeMirror, a versatile and extensible editor, is widely used for embedding code editing functionality into web applications. Monaco Editor, developed by Microsoft, powers Visual Studio Code and offers a highly performant and feature-rich code editing experience with support for various languages and extensions.