Vim-Plug vs Vundle vs pathogen.vim: What are the differences?

Key differences between Vim-Plug, Vundle, and Pathogen.vim

Introduction

In the world of Vim plugin managers, there are several popular options available, each with its own unique features and functionality. Three such widely-used and highly regarded plugin managers are Vim-Plug, Vundle, and Pathogen.vim. Below, we will examine the key differences between these three plugin managers.

1. Installation:

Vim-Plug offers an extremely simple installation process, requiring just a single line of code to be added to your Vim configuration file. Vundle, on the other hand, requires a slightly longer installation process, involving cloning its GitHub repository and adding a few lines of code to your configuration file. Pathogen.vim follows a similar installation process to Vundle, requiring you to clone its repository and modify your configuration file but does not provide any additional commands specific to plugins.

2. Plugin Management:

Vim-Plug provides a more comprehensive and powerful plugin management system compared to Vundle and Pathogen.vim. It allows you to control the load time, update frequency, and other settings for each plugin individually, giving you greater flexibility and control over your plugins. Vundle, although feature-rich, does not offer the same level of granularity when it comes to managing plugins. Pathogen.vim, on the other hand, is the least feature-rich among these three plugin managers and primarily focuses on simplifying the installation process.

3. Updating Plugins:

One major difference between Vim-Plug and Vundle is the way they handle plugin updates. Vim-Plug allows you to update all your installed plugins by running a single command, making the process quick and effortless. Vundle, however, requires you to manually update each plugin individually, which can be time-consuming if you have a large number of plugins. Pathogen.vim does not provide any built-in functionality for updating plugins, requiring you to manually check for updates and update each plugin on your own.

4. Lazy Loading:

Vim-Plug includes a lazy loading feature that allows you to load plugins only when they are actually used, reducing Vim's startup time and memory footprint. Vundle does not have a built-in lazy loading feature, thus all plugins are loaded at Vim startup. Pathogen.vim also lacks the lazy loading feature, which means all plugins are loaded on startup, potentially increasing Vim's startup time.

5. Parallel Installation and Update:

Vim-Plug supports parallel installation and update of plugins, which makes the process faster, especially when dealing with a large number of plugins. Vundle does not have this parallel installation and update feature, therefore plugins are installed and updated one by one, potentially increasing the overall time required. Similar to Vundle, Pathogen.vim also lacks the parallel installation and update feature, making the plugin installation and update process slower.

6. Extensibility and Community Support:

Vim-Plug and Vundle both have a significant user base and active community support. They are constantly updated and maintained, ensuring compatibility with the latest Vim versions and new plugins. Pathogen.vim, although still widely used, does not have as large of a user base as Vim-Plug and Vundle, and its development and maintenance have slowed down in recent years.

In Summary, Vim-Plug provides a simple installation, advanced plugin management, easy plugin updates, lazy loading, parallel installation and update, and has an active and growing community. Vundle offers a relatively easy installation, good plugin management, manual plugin updates, lacks lazy loading and parallel installation and update, and has a well-established community. Pathogen.vim simplifies the installation process, lacks advanced plugin management, manual plugin updates, lacks lazy loading and parallel installation and update, and has a smaller and less active community.