Terminal-based IDE, worth it?

[tawdry moss]

Hi all, I just watched the "oxidize your life" video. I'm wondering what the experience of switching from VSCode IDE to a terminal-based IDE feels like. Is something like neo-vim worth going into? What is the learning curve of that switch?

[desert tangle]

As a newish programmer it was mostly just not using my mouse/using more shortcuts or commands.

I mostly use nvim. It took me a couple hours of dedicated learning to understand motions, but I can do them effortlessly for navigation

Still need to get used to different editing stuff though but it was faster than what I would do in VSCode
{only used VSCode for school projects at that point}

[desert plover]

i typically stick to a dedicated IDE with a vim plugin since i could never get neovim to work properly or behave how i liked, but if you are willing to put in effort and you need a HIGHLY configerable editor neovim could be a good choice

dont feel like you NEED to switch to neovim though, if a code editor like VScode works or an IDE like the jetbrains suite works then thats good, if you genuinely feel like a vim plugin isnt enough within vscode or jetbrains and you want just GIGA customisation then neovim could be nice for you

[faint moat]

I agree with you. I’ve gone the whole terminal only way and had to admit to myself that I’m just more productive inside a Intelij editor with a vim plugin than a vim based one. That said, I did take a lot of inspiration of all the space leader key configurations out there and created my own for PHPStorm. My IDE setup is almost as foreign to anyone else as your neighbors neovim config is to you. Only thing that’s different is that mine will break less often and needs a lot less maintenance

[spare star]

just my 2 cents, I've used various editors from intellij to eclipse to vim, right now helix is my main editor and it works just fine for me. I don't feel like the editor even makes that much difference to my productivity, I just prefer the "simplicity" of a terminal editor and the fact that I manage files with the terminal makes it a natural choice because I can just do hx filename rather than having to navigate to it in a gui

I've also used micro, which is a cool editor, it's much more like a gui editor (brilliant mouse support, intuitive keybinds, and it's not modal) but in the terminal. I'd recommend that to anyone who wants to use the terminal but doesn't want to learn something like vim or helix.

so ultimately, is it worth it? it depends on what you enjoy using more. if you wanna switch to (n)vim just for productivity gain, it's probably not worth it. but if you enjoy the elegance of having everything in the terminal then absolutely go for it

[blissful quartz]

I use vim exclusively, but that’s at least partially because all the computers I ssh into are command line near exclusively

[native lichen]

I really like terminal editors for the remote access factor. I really hate getting a remote desktop to a system. Just feels clunky.

As for dev projects. Mostly depends on the language. For c# and java i use jetbrains ides because those languages have a layer of bs that is not worth fighting with

Everything else i use nvim

At least i can use vim key bindings in jetbrains ide

[serene pulsar]

^

Terminal editors are great, especially for portability.

[rigid venture]

just adding another experience - learning to get comfortable with vim/nvim has been rather helpful for server management if nothing else

we use neovim for our local editing as well but like that's really just preference

[native lichen]

That and when you get older it helps you prevent wrist pain. Used to have wrist pain and after moving to vim keybinding workflow i don't need to move my hands around as much and get less pain.

[rigid venture]

yeah we've quite enjoyed that - particularly also with a split keyboard because you can position them wherever

[native lichen]

Been thinking about getting one of them

[rigid venture]

we definitely recommend the corne wireless but it's *tiny*

[native lichen]

nice, probably to small for my hands though :(

[mental loom]

I'd say that use whatever works for you! I didn't start using vim until I was well into my career - it's something that sort of grows on you!
and even now, I keep vscode around for liveshare - it's AMAZING!

spacemacs is great too

[native lichen]

I have also been playing with replit a lot lately too. Has multiplayer which i recon would be awesome for training/mentoring

[mental loom]

oh that's nice

I really love repl.it

[serene pulsar]

Yeah did some team based coding stuff with friends on repl.it and it's great

I wish I could just integrate the buffer into nvim though...

[native lichen]

Has ssh support on pro plan

[serene pulsar]

Nice

[mental loom]

you know what else does? AstroNvim + tmate.io 😉

[native lichen]

Yeah but replit has nix :p

[barren river]

I'm wondering what the experience of switching from VSCode IDE to a terminal-based IDE feels like.

1. It's not smooth.

Is something like neo-vim worth going into?

2. It depends.

What is the learning curve of that switch?

3. Steep.

I found the experience of switching fun but you have a lot to research and set up to make it both work and work for you.

The worth of changing from and IDE to a PDE like Neovim depends on your circumstances, if you could provide more info on what you want, need and expect out of a DE I could give a proper answer.
But getting into vim-motions and commands is always worth it in my opinion, regardless of what you are doing*.
If you are editing text, you want vim motions.

To achieve a base level of understanding it can take less than 2 hours.
For medium level of familiarity (as fast as you were before vim) it could take two to three weeks of daily usage.
For mastery it could take a couple years, but the stuff you learn after the medium level are things that are not even present in most editors and are things not used or known by most vim users (even avid ones)

*||The readline-d emacs motions are also desirable in any context where you only edit a single line of text.||