I am appealing to Vim and Emacs/Xemacs users here... Please, if you a have
a minute to spare, I am agonizing (literally!) over this decision and need
your help in deciding between one of these 2 fine editors. I have tried
several ones over the last few weeks and have narrowed down my choice to
either of those but I am still uncertain which is a better fit for my needs.
(BTW, I have read the wonderful FAQ on Text Editors and Stata. I have also
consulted many comp.editors newsgroups where I as able to find *some*
valuable pointers).
I am moving away from TextPad mainly because I recently installed Linux on
my new laptop (I otherwise use Windows 2000 and XP at the office) and need a
multiplatform editor. My requirements have also changed since I now prefer
to scroll using shortcuts like ^N, ^P, ^V, alt-V rather than arrow-keys and
PageUP, PageDown as the keyboard configurations of my laptops (I have 2) and
office workstation vary greatly.
I am drawn to Emacs/Xemacs and Vim, since both
(1) are multi-platform (Linux, Windows, others)
(2) are nicely integrated with Unix and Windows shells
(3) use keyboard shortcuts to move the pointer/cursor
(4) are open source projects and likely to be around for years to come.
I gave JEdit some serious though -- and am truly impressed by the interface
and may use it from time to time -- but it loses points over criteria #2 and
#3.
What I now need to know is how do Emacs and Vim compare with respect to
features such as (in order of priority):
(1) Ability to Save 'Workspaces'/'Sessions'
-------------------------------------------
One of the most important feature I am looking for in an editor is the
ability, as in TextPad and JEdit, to restore a collection of files by
opening a single Workspace or Session file (NB: not the just the set of
recently opened files.) For instance, I like to have several Workspaces at
my fingertips such that when I am programming in Stata, I have a
_statadev.tws_ (TextPad Workspace) file which fetches roughly 6-10 files at
once from various directories, e.g.
mymodule.ado
mymodule.hlp
template.ado
template.hlp
test_mymodule.do
test_mymodule.log
todo.txt
tips.txt
traps.txt
etc...
And similarly when I am programming in Perl, I have a _perldev.tws_ file
which invokes Regular Expression reference charts, syntax diagrams,
debugging control charts, etc. A quick Google search tells me that Emacs
can be extended with the 'session.el' package. Is 'session.el' truly what I
am looking for? Can Vim save workspace/session files?
(2) Speed/Size
--------------
Emacs seems big and slow. It takes approx 5-6 seconds to start-up on my
system. I am just editing text I want it to be fast. This could be due to
the size of Emacs. Enthusiasts like to boast that Emacs is much more that a
text editor, it contains a browser/mailer/newsreader/etc,
(3) Integration with Compilers/Debuggers/Shells
------------------------------------------------
Emacs appears to be seamlessly integrated with all of the above to
constitute and IDE all by itself. What about Vim? I assume both can run
Stata .do files but can you run Perl scripts under the Perl debugger from
either editor? Can either trap compilation errors such that you can easily
jump (by double-clicking or otherwise) to the offending line in a script?
(4) Ease of Writing/Hacking New Syntax Highlighting Definition files
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In TextPad and JEdit, it is fairly easy to write new custom syntax colouring
schemes. You can define from scratch or simply hack an existing file to
create your own. In Emacs, however, it seems much more of an adventure and
it appears you need to know a lot of Lisp programming. (If it is any
indication, I downloaded Bill Rising's mode for Stata and it is composed of
over a dozen files.) Is it any easier in Vim?
I would be eternally grateful if you could enlighten me about any of the
above! Thanks in advance.
Patrick Joly
*
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