[mjt0229]

Really? VSCode has already transformed the way code was written on Unix/Linux? I beg to differ. 10 years ago (when I discovered Eclipse, not sure when it was originally released), Eclipse was a staggering leap forward for Java programming. I'm no Eclipse fan, but I don't think that VSCode has already changed the world in the way that Eclipse did, and certainly not in its short lifespan.

[Analemma_]

I think what the parent meant was that VSC (along with Atom, and to lesser extent SublimeText) is a good example of "the middle way" that is rapidly gaining popularity. First we had console editors, but they weren't powerful enough, especially for newer languages/frameworks. Then we had full IDEs (VS/Eclipse/IntelliJ), but they got to be slow and clunky. Now the trend is toward "enhanced text editors" (VSC/Atom/ST): editors that can have modular plugin functionality and interact with the console so you don't lose any of its versatility. They're usually faster and more lightweight than IDEs but keep most of what you need. The parent is saying that Eclipse was the flagship of "Generation 2" and VSC is for "Generation 3"

And remember, no one is saying you have to use these programs. Console editors and IDEs will still be here. This is another option for people who want it, which has turned out to be a lot of people.

[n72]

What part of the IDE's is slow and clunky. Is it just startup you're talking about or other parts? I'm a heavy Intellij user as well as vi user and, apart from startup, don't notice any speed differences.

[NoGravitas]

I kind of agree with this. The thing is, Emacs has always been "Generation 3" in your terminology. Atom and VSC are kind of bringing the Emacs way (extension language is implementation language, not restricted to a narrow plugin API) to a new generation, along with the graphical experience that Emacs doesn't provide (yes, I use GUI Emacs. Yes, Spacemacs is nice. Atom with Material-UI plugin is still prettier).

I'll be an Emacs user for life, but I am currently recommending Atom to people wanting to move away from language-specific IDEs and dabble in a text editor, because it has enough of the Emacs nature while not being too daunting.

[mjt0229]

What I'm taking issue with is the description of VSC as "changing the way we code on Unix/Linux". Given your interpretation, Atom and SublimeText and other tools predate VSC and fill much the same role. So I don't see VSC as being transformative in that way. That's not to say it might not be a nice tool, but it's not a revolution either.

[recoil]

> First we had console editors, [...] Then we had full IDEs [...] Now the trend is toward "enhanced text editors" (VSC/Atom/ST): editors that can have modular plugin functionality and interact with the console so you don't lose any of its versatility. They're usually faster and more lightweight than IDEs but keep most of what you need

Emacs has functioned as an "advanced text editor" for at least 20 years and probably longer. There's a very common misconception that Emacs is a "console editor", but the reality is that when you first launch it in a windowed environment you get something that looks an awful lot like Sublime, VSCode & Atom: a text editor window with a menubar and toolbar similar (yes, it's not perfect!) to what you'd expect from any other editor native to your chosen platform.

The time investment involved in learning how to use it is also considerably less than implied elsewhere in this thread. In fact I really doubt that it's significantly more than you'd have to spend educating yourself about any other "advanced editor"'s configuration, keybindings for non-obvious actions, extension mechanism, etc. It's easy enough to learn the (admittedly unconventional) keybindings for a handful of common things like opening and saving files when you have the menus to refer to, and by default it'll even open a buffer containing clickable hyperlinks to helpful things like tutorials. I still haven't seen an editor or IDE with better built-in help.

Even configuring Emacs isn't all that hard: there's a built-in interface for installing packages, most of which will pretty-much auto-activate once installed (i.e. less need to mess around with elisp), and for changing configuration there's "customize", which is a nicer way to change configuration variables than just editing a JSON file. When you do have to start writing some elisp code (you'll almost certainly have to write a little) the documentation is superb and there are more than enough resources on the web to help you. A programmer who is already familiar with a dynamic language like JS will probably have less trouble learning elisp than a C programmer did 20 years ago.

None of which is to say that there aren't areas where Emacs isn't behind. I'd like to see better support for projects, snippets and auto-completion out of the box, as well as being more nicely pre-configured for popular languages like JavaScript and Python. Emacs 24 is four years old at this point, and that's a very long time for any developer tool to stay still.

These days I'd say the most confusing thing about Emacs is working out which of the many competing packages you should choose for whatever it is you're trying to do. Age is working against it here, because what was the almost-universally-recommended package five years ago - for which you'll get plenty of helpful google search results - has often been superceded by something better.

But with a handful of plugins installed (yasnippet, helm, projectile, auto-complete) it's (IMO of course) still the best editor out there.