Ask HN: Is the Atom good enough to use?

[mrnoname]

Hi HN.

I'm using the WebStorm(or IntelliJ) and the Sublime Text for JavaScript(Node.js, React...) development.

And I tried to use Atom when Atom started the closed beta test, but it was not good for use. Because it was too slow and unstable on my development environment.(OSX, MacBookPro Retina 15 2013) So I forgot about it.

Few months ago, I found out about the Nuclide from Facebook. But it was based on Atom. So I didn't interest about it. However, recently I have to develop many things with React, and I felt a little lacking with WebStorm's ES6 and React supports. So I installed Atom and Nuclide to my environments(El Capitan on same MacPook and Ubuntu 15.10 on Desktop) and tried to use it again. But it still sucks for me... It uses too many CPU resources, and interactions are too slow.

Does it happen only for me?

Many people tell about that it is good IDE. But for me not. I really want to use Atom because my favorite language is the JavaScript, and I'll use the React more and more. However, for now, WebStrom is the best tool for me, and ES6 supports also getting better.

I'm just wondering how peoples think about it. Is it good for you?

[lollipop25]

Stick to Sublime Text and/or Intellij. I prefer Sublime Text on smaller, front-end things due to speed while Intellij on larger, full-stack projects due to robust and consistent tools (like using the same debugger pane for Java, PHP and JavaScript projects, lesser cognitive burden). Both have a wide range of plugins to choose from.

> Many people tell about that it is good IDE

Everyone has their "favorites" but your mileage may vary.

> I really want to use Atom because my favorite language is the JavaScript

This is being "hipster" - avoid this behavior at all costs. Choose the most efficient tool for the job, not the most famous nor because you're sticking to it religiously. If you prefer writing Java with Vim or Notepad and you're efficient with it, there's nothing wrong with doing so. IDE has nothing to do with the language you use, although some package tools that make them language-specific. But then again, nothing prevents me from writing Java with Vim, or Notepad, or PHPStorm.

---

Under the hood, Atom is just HTML, CSS and JS - and we all know that these guys are terribly slower than native. I've used VS Code by Microsoft, which is based on Electron, which is based on Atom and even that is terrible. I've also used Slap editor, a Vim-ish looking, Sublime-text editor on the command-line running on Node.js and it's also terrible.

Bottom-line: Use what's more efficient, not what's famous.

[mrnoname]

Yes, you're right. The most important thing is productivity and efficiency. I wanted to use Atom looked so hip. Because I'm a kind of the hipster for development and others :) My expression was a little vague. I just want to know that doesn't other peoples have the performance issue. Thanks.

[abelM]

I can't say much about atom but I was just wondering if you have checked out visual studio code ? If the Intellisense you are looking for is missing you could add it based on your needs using tsd to the current project you are working on.

npm install tsd -g #if tsd is not installed yet

# cd to your project folder

tsd query -r -o -a install react

snippet grabbed from http://www.johnpapa.net/intellisense-witha-visual-studio-cod...

edited: add line break

[mrnoname]

Good. I also know about VS Code, but I also forgot about it because it is similar with Atom too. I'll try it. Thanks about your information.

[PaulHoule]

I use Atom from time to time on Windows and it is "good enough" although good old GNU emacs seemed more responsive in 1989.

I am interested in projectional editors and other tools that are a lot smarter than we used to do, but for tools like that to work they need to be really fast and most of the "editors written in a scripting language" (like Light Table) today seem to be marginal in terms of performance with no margin to do anything smarter.

[krisdol]

I've been using atom exclusively for the last 3 months after having used IntelliJ for years. I would say yes, it is good enough, but understand that batteries are not included. You need to configure it to suit your needs.

I will say it sucks compared to vim for large files. Maybe that's due to my plugins.

But if it doesn't work for you don't use it. Webstorm offers a lot more out of the box. Or just learn Vim

[federererer]

Atom is noticeably slow for me on a modern rMBP, too.

I'm using version 1.1.0.

It used to not even let me open anything but the smallest files. I think the limit was a mere 2 MB!

I do not get that denial any longer but it still feels slow especially for larger files.

Sometimes I have to open 500 MB text files. Atom cannot handle them, while they open nearly instantly using MacVim.

So in these modern days I use MacVim more than I use Atom.

[AndrewGarner]

I found that Visual Studio Code is much faster than Atom, even though they are both built on Electron.

[nneko]

Atom is excellent if your primary language is JS. It is slower than sublime in my experience but not dramatically. Ofcourse, I am not opening 500mb files etc so if you have those requirements then you are probably best sticking with the current setup

[ahuth]

For me, there are no noticeable performance problems. It boots up in about 2 seconds, search feels just as fast as Sublime. I use it every day.

This is on a 2013 Macbook Air.

[eecks]

I use it, seems pretty good. I've no loyalty to or against it though.