James Bennett over at The B-List has an interesting post on editors and why, no matter what you finally decide, you should learn either Vi(m) or Emacs. He begins by noting that every couple of years there is a wave of enthusiasm for the newest greatest editor. In previous years it was TextMate, now it’s Sublime Text. But, he notes, there’s a lot to be said for investing in tools that will grow with you through the years. He makes a couple of points worth considering
- Often the new and popular editors will boast of capabilities that are already present in Emacs or Vim.
- Very often, the new and exciting tool will run out of gas resulting in the periodic enthusiasm for a new editor. He cites TextMate as an example of this. Doubtless, the faithful will take exception to this but he has a point that TextMate has pretty much lost its momentum.
All this is especially true of Emacs, I think, because the individual user can adapt it for whatever behavior is needed. If those needs change, it’s simple to adjust the behavior to the reflect current needs. As Bennett says, good tools grow with you.
Bennett’s point is not that you should use Emacs or Vim (although he probably thinks you should) but that you should be aware of the “old,” reliable, and proven editors and what they have to offer. That’s something we can all agree on.