Vim sanitize better then Emacs?

calendar Dec 5, 2010 · 2 min read · emacs vi  ·
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Disclaimer: Hi guys, I will not start a Religion wars between Emacs and Vim. For a copule of reason:

  • I have been an Emacs fan for about ten years, then I get a depression because of emacs-lisp complicated interface and slow emacs evolution
  • I have worked on pymacs a bit, so I am somewhat a Emacs contributor
  • I am still searching a good general purpose editor. On my day by day job, eclispe is my food.
So I was accustomed to emacs from the University. Now I decided to give a try to vim, mostly because I need
  • a editor working on slow connection
  • a fast startup editor
  • some time to be masochistic. Some guys smoke, others use vim. It perfectlys fit in your auto-destruction instinct.
In Software world changing editor is the same to change your religion  :)

I was happy with vim for this reason:

  • The documentation is a little better then emacs: it is simpler to read and has a bit more example. Generally speaking, documentation is quite compact and very accurate.
  • It is quite simple to program vim: the scripting language is functional oriented, strictly typed and easy. EmacsLisp is cool but too complex for casual user.
  • Plugin mechanics is clean and fair.
  • Languages like Perl, Python and Ruby are supported in a simpler way then Emacs. Emacs has emacs-lisp and no simple backend.
  • GVim server activation is a bit simpler them the emacs server.
Anyway the disavantages are:
  • Symbol convention is a good thing but criptic. ! * and so on are nice character, but makes no sense if you actually do not understand the cryptic "Vim symbolic religion".
  • vi seems written by a piano-programmer who failed to get into a good Music School. The Command and Visual Mode are a bad thing if usability is a concern. Try to open a document inside vim and write your name: you will likely destroy your document if your name do not start with an "i" letter.
  • Even if Gvim exists, the Gui mode is poor, like the XEmacs one
 

 

Comment by ellemme on 2010-12-06 11:42:51

Welcome to the dark side! :D

Comment by daitangio on 2010-12-06 15:28:29

Vi: I am your Father, Stallman!

Emacs: Anyway, you cannot do this in VI: http://xkcd.com/378/ :)