Ask HN: Which editor do you use for JavaScript Development?
Webstorm? VS? VSCode? Any others options you think are better?
70 comments
VSCode with the vimstyle extension. Sometimes I turn off vimstyle because it conflicts with my existing keyboard shortcuts. Still a learning process, + I've started using the ultimate hacking keyboard and its arrow keys are mapped to I for up ( which is INSERT MODE in vim ), and j/l for over ( vim uses h/l ), and K for down ( vim uses K for UP ), so there is a HUGE learning curve to use both vim + vscode shortcuts + uhk. But it's getting a lot easier with practice.
One thing I've kind of decided on is minimal use of hjkl keys in vim in favor of UHK's MOD +
I
J K L
VSCode, although when Panic's successor to Coda drops I'll probably switch to that. https://panic.com/next/
Very interested in this as well; have you worked with a pre-release or what gives you confidence in switching?
No early access or anything! I've just been happily using their software for 10+ years.
Google Docs, because, according to the Google interview process, that makes some sort of sense.
There is nothing like writing code in a word processor.
I did this recently and it kept autocapitalizing/correcting things, and I kept wasting time reflexively changing them. There's probably a code syntax option buried somewhere in there but heck if I know where it is.
I use Vim with vim-plug, vim-javascript, ctrlsf, ctrlp, and some custom bindings in my .vimrc to help me use the "gf" command to jump to source. I've spent the time to invest in learning how to use vim and it has served me well across many languages, from writing Javascript, HTML, CSS, to Python, Ruby and Golang.
Sublime Text 3. It's simple but blazing fast and rock solid. I have tried Atom and VSCode over the years, but they are both just a bit slower at almost everything, and I didn't find it worth the investment to remap my muscle memory accordingly.
IntelliJ Ultimate (for everything)
Same here. I love having a single IDE that can handle all the languages I use. VSCode is great and I used to use it (with VSCodeVim) a lot, but it just doesn't handle Java or Python nearly as well. I ended up deciding I preferred to stick with one set of IDE/configs/keybinds, so I went with the more powerful option.
I think my impression of VSCode is that it feels more like an editor à la Sublime Text, or at an extreme, a well-configured vim, than an actual IDE. But I want the IDE experience - primarily global refactoring and fast auto-complete. IntelliJ provides that (along with IdeaVim for the improved text editing experience too).
I think my impression of VSCode is that it feels more like an editor à la Sublime Text, or at an extreme, a well-configured vim, than an actual IDE. But I want the IDE experience - primarily global refactoring and fast auto-complete. IntelliJ provides that (along with IdeaVim for the improved text editing experience too).
vim/neovim with plugins. i've been using vim for so long now (from my accounts, about ten years?) that using anything else feels just wrong (including VSCode with vim mode, it's quite good but there's like 10% of my usage that it doesn't cover properly and it's super annoying).
Webstorm for my day job, VSCode for my passion projects when I'm at home, Neovim for my passion projects when I'm remote.
Almost all the developers (~50 total) where I work use VS Code. I think it's pretty much industry standard for js/ts at this point.
Personally I use vim with ale, youcompleteme and tern plugins.
Personally I use vim with ale, youcompleteme and tern plugins.
Emacs, when it's just part of a larger application using a different language, or when the whole environment is even more effed up than usual for JS (eg. ExtJS) and you could parse the code as well as Perl anyway.
VSCode as a stop-gap solution for more substantial JS code. The gap being until I either can configure Emacs properly (language server or something similar), or preferably when I can get rid of JS (and no, not with MS JS++).
VSCode as a stop-gap solution for more substantial JS code. The gap being until I either can configure Emacs properly (language server or something similar), or preferably when I can get rid of JS (and no, not with MS JS++).
spacemacs has a pretty ok js configuration. you can use LSP with tern and it seems to do a good job most of the time.
For JS and TypeScript, I use VSCode cos of all the extensions and the ecosystem.
I used to use Sublime with a lot of configuration and some custom plugins but I gave up its performance to VSCode convenience.
I use VIM for other stuff and VIM key bindings on both VSCode and Sublime.
I sometimes miss the experience with Sublime but just too lazy to set it up properly for JS and TypeScript.
I used to use Sublime with a lot of configuration and some custom plugins but I gave up its performance to VSCode convenience.
I use VIM for other stuff and VIM key bindings on both VSCode and Sublime.
I sometimes miss the experience with Sublime but just too lazy to set it up properly for JS and TypeScript.
Neovim with the autozimu language client plugin and this lsp: https://github.com/theia-ide/typescript-language-server
Used VS Code for a year. Realised it was just an editor and not an IDE. Paid for webstorm. Never going back.
If you prefer IntelliJ IDEA to emacs etc for Java, you should probably switch to webstorm. Batteries included, nicer UI.
If you prefer IntelliJ IDEA to emacs etc for Java, you should probably switch to webstorm. Batteries included, nicer UI.
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Sublime text
VSCode for everything, though my boss offered to get me Webstorm...
Emacs with some extension that highlights undefined variables and missing semicolons. My laptop is off now, I can't check which one. Probably one of the common modes.
Vim with plugins. At this point I am the only one at my company who does not use VSCode, it would be nice to be able to share new tricks with someone...
vim
- vim-javascript
- tern_for_vim
- vdebug
- ale
Really interesting to see everyone's responses. Do you know if there is a survey capability in HN for these types of things? I may revisit the thread later and aggregate the results too if others would find that helpful, but this might be nice as a native Ask HN feature. I suppose I could have just linked to a poll but there is value is in the comments vs the results too.
https://2018.stateofjs.com/other-tools/#text_editors
VSC is monster good and it makes me wonder of the competition in this space for the next few years.
VSC is monster good and it makes me wonder of the competition in this space for the next few years.
I use Vscode because of the decent ecosystem and debugging support. It’s certainly slower than a native editor, notepad++ for example but I can forgive the little pause here and there for the benefits it brings.
mapped my workspace so I can work directly within the chrome debugger. not the most petty way but it's darn effective since all objects and data are laid before my eyes and can be inspected and manipulated without braking context
That’s cool. I wonder why Google or Mozilla don’t create an IDE that uses their respective devtools to approximate the runtime introspection of a Lisp Machine. This feels like it should be the default solution given that the tools already exist.
I’d love to read a blog post about this. I often pause the chrome debugger and keep it open in a window next to my editor (VS Code, for those counting).
this is the gist of chrome configuration https://developers.google.com/web/tools/setup/setup-workflow
but the rest depends on your backend because you need the server to hot reload changes from the filesystem
but the rest depends on your backend because you need the server to hot reload changes from the filesystem
Sweet. Thanks.
For TypeScript, Emacs TIDE is very good. Not sure how well it works with vanilla JS.
VSCode or Neovim
IntelliJ ultimate for TypeScript. Have tried vscode but it was slow on Windows for monorepos; haven't tried vscode on mac for this same project yet
VSCode with Synthwave 84 theme, plugins for everything
Neovim. VSCode with Vim keybindings if I had more RAM.
Webstorm because VSCode ways of handling global search and replace does not work for me.
Sublime text
Webstorm.
Neovim with coc.nvim.
Vim with snipmate (and a bunch of other plugins).
Notepad++
It is minimal and I think Im not supposed to use it.
It is minimal and I think Im not supposed to use it.
IntelliJ Idea Ultimate with IdeaVIM
Sublime Text 3.
vim with vim-javascript ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
vim (MacVim, gvim or just plain vim)
IntelliJ or else plain Vi[m].
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atom
TypeScript
> TypeScript
I assume this means vscode?
I assume this means vscode?
The assumption is more weird than the answer.
Anyway, I use IntelliJ Ultimate.
VsCode only for small scripts
This would seem a weird answer indeed if you don't have context -- which is that VSCode (Microsoft) is developed with native handling of Typescript (Microsoft) -- so is somewhat of the standard in that regard.
The answer is tongue-in-cheek. Basically, don't write JavaScript, write TypeScript and transpile.
sublime text too
vim or vscode, depending on my mood.
Atom
sublime text
vim
ST3
Webstorm!
Phpstorm
VSCode
sublime