this is only true if we're strictly talking editing text wihtout any plugin functionality. As soon as you add code completion features vim shows its age, the Ale extension for async linting for example feels very sluggish on a few only slightly dated laptops I tried out and frequently grills the cpu.
I also noticed ALE was very slow with JavaScript so changed it to run on save only.
However Neovim’s plug-in architecture is a big improvement. I’m running Deoplete (which provides intellisense like functionality) on the same machine, and it is basically instant. There are GIFs at the bottom of the repo:
VS Code is trying hard to be an IDE for all languages. If you use pure VS code without extensions, it quite snappy. But as you start adding more and more extensions, it starts slowing down and that too quite fast.
This is true, but its still very snappy for an electron app.
After adding around 10+ plugins on Atom it not only became slower but it started crashing or having internal errors.
With VS code I have 17 plugins installed and it still feels light enough. Personally I disable most plugins until I need them and I think most people should do the same considering how easy it is to disable a plugin.
I have all my language specific plugins disabled until I need to use them.
Does/would a high-end (e.g., Xeon-class) processor and/or a boatload of RAM help keep Code's performance snappy?
FWIW, I run my Code install quite light since my "duties and responsibilities", ahem, only require a few languages/data types, ergo, I am not pushing it hard at all.
FTR, I have a (licensed) install of Sublime, which I confess is snappier than Code, but the difference is so small I use whichever one is better for the task at hand and any difference dissappears under the pressure of an outage enforced deadline :-D
this is only true if we're strictly talking editing text wihtout any plugin functionality. As soon as you add code completion features vim shows its age, the Ale extension for async linting for example feels very sluggish on a few only slightly dated laptops I tried out and frequently grills the cpu.