Why I use Spacemacs
Software engineering is a craft, and some of the most important things for any craftsman (or craftswoman!) are their tools. Editor choice is a very personal and controversial topic. I don’t want to prescribe that anyone should use what I use, but I do want to add my two cents as to why I’m incredibly happy with the choice I made.
I use a project called Spacemacs as my main editor for almost any task. I really love it. I actually contribute a little every month to help fund its development.
What is Spacemacs?
Spacemacs is a free and open-source Emacs configuration. It pulls together the best of Vim and Emacs, and it does so with a focus on ease of use and productivity.
I had been thinking about trying either Vim or Emacs for a while. I liked the idea of Vim’s keybindings and learning them so I could have a text editor available on whatever machine I use.
But I had also heard how many great things you can do completely inside Emacs. I started out as a Java developer using an really robust IDE, so I’ve grown to like the idea of being able to do a lot inside one same tool.
Ergonomic
Spacemacs consistently uses Vim key bindings for all interactions with the editor. I’ve asked a few Vim users and they all agree it has the best Vim emulation around.
Commands are also mnemonic and therefore easy to remember:
- To save — SPC f s (space file save)
- To switch buffer — SPC b n (space buffer next)
- To split windows — SPC w 2 (space window two)
No set-up!
Spacemacs comes with all the best Emacs packages already installed and pre-optimized.
And it looks really good, no need to fiddle with the themes to make it pretty.
Easy to learn
New tools have learning curves. Emacs is particularly infamous for having a steep learning curve.
Most new Spacemacs users are surprised to find how quickly they can become productive using it.
Whenever you start a Spacemacs command (by pressing SPC) a pop-up menu appears listing all possible keys you could press from there. Help arrives just in time, not a moment before or after.
Why I left Sublime
I started my days as a javascript developer using Sublime Text. I had a lot of fun with Sublime, and I still keep it around on my machine because I love how it does multiple cursors.
Too many windows
However, at Curiosity Media we structure our apps around a service-oriented architecture. In fact, a website like SpanishDict has around 15 separate services we leverage.
How I used Sublime was fairly typical, I would type subl . from my terminal to launch a new Sublime window at the current working directory. If I needed to do some work in another repo, I launched a new window. Soon I ended up with a lot of windows, and with no good way to flip between them quickly.
Navigate the file tree
I navigate files in two main ways with Spacemacs. SPC p p lets you fuzzy match any directory on your system, then any file within that directory. And SPC f t opens up a file system explorer that’s extremely quick and easy to navigate.
Buffer editing is better
In Sublime, when you edit a new file, you open a new tab. If you open up 10 files, you end up with 10 tabs. The titles become impossible to read!
Vim and Emacs use buffers. Files loaded into memory as buffers when you want to edit them. Your window only displays the current buffer, but you can easily access any other buffer and switch to it. The UI around them is much cleaner
It’s possible to set up a similar workflow in Sublime, but doing so involves installing additional plugins.
Be pragmatic
I wouldn’t tell anyone they should use Spacemacs. I think everyone has different tastes and it’s silly to expect something to work for everyone. If your current editor works great for you, there is no need to change it.
But if you have some of the same pain points I did, I strongly encourage you to try out Spacemacs. You will not feel like you’re choosing between Vim and Emacs, you are truly getting the best of both worlds.
