wrote:
Modern IDEs are far superior to any text editor. 10 years ago I was a
vim (actually just vi) fan. No longer. The features provided by modern
IDEs are leaps and bounds beyond what any text editor provides.
If you can show me a text editor that is superior in any significant
regard to my IDE
<snip/>
If you read what I wrote, I said that, in some aspects (which, to me, there
are a considerable number), some text editors are better than IDEs. I did
not said that there was any editor which "is superior in any significant
regard to" any IDE. IDEs are purpose-built for the task of developing
software, which also integrate a significant number of features which are
fundamental to the task of developing software. Therefore, it would be
really odd if every piece of software which was developed with the sole
purpose of helping developers write their software ended up doing the exact
opposite in every conceivable aspect related to that job.
Nonetheless, we should understand that there is no such thing as a "one size
fits all" solution. No IDE is the best tool for every conceivable scenario
ever faced by every programmer that ever lived. One way to prove this is by
pointing out the fact that there is more than a single IDE out there, and
even in this day there are fools who waste their time with IDE flame wars
complaining how their IDE is better than someone else's, and how those who
don't use a specific IDE are somehow idiots and trolls.
Now, just to point out how a "modern IDE" is inadequate in some
circumstances, I can point you to those cases where a programmer, for some
reason, happens to need to work on some project with one of those flimsy
netbook computers, the ones with tiny monitors and limited disk space.
Running an IDE on one of those systems is an experience that only a
masochist can enjoy, and even then he would have trouble doing any work.
Meanwhile, it isn't hard to find a bunch of text editors that work perfectly
well with those limitations.
Rui Maciel