Note: For some reason WordPress refused to embed Fraga’s tweet so I had to link to the tweet instead.
As you all know by now, I prefer a minimalist approach to my editor screen layout. I want as much screen real estate as possible devoted to the file I’m editing. That maximizes context and minimizes scrolling. Eric Fraga, it appears, agrees:
When I first saw that screenshot, my immediate reaction was, “Why would anyone do that?” Look at that layout. It’s got all sorts of metadata about other files displayed but devotes only a third of its working space to the point of an editor: editing the text of a file.
After thinking about it for a while, I came to the realization that the people who prefer this type of configuration find text boring. It’s not “modern looking”, it’s not flashy, and worst of all it doesn’t look cool. But a setup like VS Code’s default? That’s happening!
Of course, as I’ve said before, different strokes for different folks so use whatever works for you. Still, I maintain my cranky, much maligned opinion that serious developers don’t use setups like that. Let the abuse begin.