Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> “This time we can make an app based on web technologies for real!” > - it failed when Microsoft tried it

VS Code is one of the most successful open source cross platform GUI apps of all time. Who would have thought that good ol' HTML would finally fulfill the promise of "build once, run everywhere".



VS Code is a great success of Electron-based apps but also has massive memory usage and performance bloat that comes with this style of app, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19144039

Sublime Text is implemented natively (C++) and uses a fraction of the resources to accomplish similar functionality. I know we live in a period of plentiful system resources where RAM usage no longer practically matters, but using 1.5GB RAM for a few files open seems insane, even more so that this is now normalized.


> Sublime Text is implemented natively (C++) and uses a fraction of the resources to accomplish similar functionality.

If VS Code is slower than sublime with the same level of functionality, why does it currently totally dominate the market? Is it because devs just love Microsoft?


Importantly, it isn't slower.

It does use a lot more resources, but it turns out that people care a lot less about memory usage than UX speed.


VS Code has a quasi-IDE implemented for a bunch of popular languages including a debugger [1]. Sublime is a straight text editor, with limited debugging capability. Sheer usefulness beats performance, so VS Code won the editor war.

[1] https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging


So in other words, not the same level of functionality.


Sublime Text is an independent product from a small developer; VS Code is actively pushed and marketed by Microsoft, one of the biggest, best-known companies in the world.

That may or may not be the primary reason for the difference, but I don't think it can be ignored.


> If VS Code is slower than sublime with the same level of functionality, why does it currently totally dominate the market? Is it because devs just love Microsoft?

Because it only has the same level of functionality when you conveniently ignore how easier it is to write plugins


Sublime Text and VS Code are pretty different, despite looking superficially simmilar. VS Code gets much further along the path to being a full IDE (albeit not completely), where Sublime is more of a pure text editor.


At what cost? VS Code is a trillion dollar company throwing thousands of man-years at the problem and still running into issues like "we can't make the terminal fast enough because of web tech": https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2017/10/03/terminal-rend...


> At what cost?

It is free! Free as in free beer. So all those trillions are going to very good use, considering it is the most used editor. And its open source too!! What a web tech success story this one...

> and still running into issues like "we can't make the terminal fast enough

Imagine that! A cross-platform code editor with its own configurable integrated terminal that hooks into the apps extension system. But someone wrote a blog post in 2017 explaining some performance improvements, so bring out the pitch-forks and burn it all down!


> It is free! Free as in free beer.

You're confusing price and cost of development

> so bring out the pitch-forks and burn it all down!

That is literally not what I wrote, but at this point it's clear you're not interested in discussion beyond low-level trolling.

Adieu


> That is literally not what I wrote,

Yes. Not all discourse has to be literal. It's called a a metaphor. And your "trillion dollar company throwing thousands of man-years" is called a hyperbole. You are talking about the most successful cross platform code editor of all time, so if you want to be taken seriously, use level-headed arguments rather than emotional exaggerations.

> but at this point it's clear you're not interested in discussion beyond low-level trolling.

> Adieu

I wouldn't consider a discussion where someone cites a 6 year old blog post about performance improvements as proof of "throwing thousands of man years" as a serious, or worthwhile discussion. You can go. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.


And yet he was entirely correct, and you're just coming off as being petulantly pedantic.


It is also not running on a mobile phone with limited memory, no swap, a small screen and where battery life is at a premium.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: