On Oct 14, 2005, at 12:49 PM, Steve wrote:
Neither ones keystroke combinations, are the least bit intuitive, and
any time I have to stop and think about how to accomplish something in
my text editor, that is time taken away from being productive and
editing the text.
Maybe it's because growing up in the 80's, I cut my teeth on programs
like edit, and quickbasic, that I expect a text editor to behave in
some consistant fashion, and just be well, a text editor, this is
also the most likely reason that when I program I rarely have use for
all the features of an IDE, and IDE's are essentially just glorified
text editors 9/10 times they get fired up.
I'm also a believer in simplicity. No doubt, there should be simple
tools easily available. Not all jobs are most easily and quickly
accomplished through the use of simple tools, though. Sometimes, a
bit of up-front investment in learning a complex tool pays off big in
productivity gains. Text editing, if you do it a lot, can be a time-
consuming process if all you have is a very simple tool. Tools like
Emacs and Vim are the direct result of that. Sure, they've got a
steep learning curve, but when you make a living editing text files,
that up-front investment becomes worth it.
As an analogy, a beautiful piece of furniture could be made with
simple hand tools. It would take a long time, but the tools
themselves would be easy to learn how to use. It's important to have
those tools available for simple tasks. On the other hand, someone
running a carpentry business is going to invest in some complex
carpentry tools. The amateur craftsman might easily chop his fingers
off attempting to use them without training, but the experienced user
would be able to turn out consistent, quality work in less time than
one who only has the simple tools. On the other hand, simply using
the machine doesn't guarantee any benefit. It requires learning new
ways of using it beyond just replacing the simple tools.
So, emacs and vim are but points on the continuum of text editing
tools. Although I value simplicity, and they are not very simple, I
still strongly believe in their utility, and in the end, that's what
keeps them around to spark new generations of religious flamewars.
--Levi
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