Is Vim Worth Learning in 2023? Vim vs Sublime Text for Front-End Development

Introduction:

Understanding the decision to use a text editor can significantly impact your development productivity, especially when it comes to front-end development. Two widely used tools in the industry are Vim and Sublime Text. In this article, we’ll dissect the merits and demerits of each, and help you decide if Vim is worth learning in 2023. While Vim is known for its simplicity and efficiency, Sublime Text provides a smoother user experience and more advanced features, particularly for front-end developers.

Performance Comparison: Vim vs. Sublime Text

The performance of Vim can sometimes be a drawback for developers working on front-end projects. Imagine you’re working with large SVG path code. While Vim can handle this input, it often does so in a line-by-line fashion, which can be slow and cumbersome. This is a stark contrast to Sublime Text, which manages to handle large code snippets more efficiently. When scrolling with the mouse in Vim, the rendering can be slow and inefficient, especially in compare to Sublime Text, which offers a much smoother user experience.

Syntax Highlighting and Plugins

Another point in favor of Sublime Text is its robust syntax highlighting and plugin support. If you’re working with languages such as Pug or SVG, Sublime Text's plugins can make your life easier. I personally have encountered issues with Vim's plugins for Pug, where syntax is not highlighted correctly. On the other hand, Sublime Text’s Pug package renders Pug syntax perfectly, making it a more reliable choice for front-end developers.

Editing Multiple Lines of Code

The way you can edit multiple lines of code in Vim can sometimes be frustrating. While there is a Visual Block mode, it often doesn't offer the intuitive experience that Sublime Text provides. In Sublime Text, you can easily use multiline cursors, which makes it a joy to work with. The ability to quickly select and edit multiple lines is a significant time-saver for front-end developers. In Vim, you might find yourself struggling more with tasks like changing IDs to classes, as Vim sometimes fails to interpret and edit syntax correctly, such as not replacing single quotes to double quotes.

Copied Paste in Terminal and Multiple Tabs

Working with Vim in a terminal can be quite limiting. If you’re trying to copy and paste code between different terminal windows or tabs, you might find Vim's functionality lacking. However, Sublime Text offers a Vim Vintage mode, making it easier to use Vim-like commands in a more flexible environment.

Conclusion: Efficiency and Quick Edits with Vim

While Vim is a powerful and efficient tool, particularly for quick edits, its limitations become apparent when dealing with large front-end projects. Sublime Text, with its better performance, advanced syntax highlighting, and ease of handling multiple lines of code, can be a more practical choice for developers working in front-end development environments. If you’re not already familiar with Vim, it’s worth learning a few basic commands and shortcuts, especially if you find yourself needing to make minor edits quickly.

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