
Ask HN: Is the Atom good enough to use? - mrnoname
Hi HN.<p>I&#x27;m using the WebStorm(or IntelliJ) and the Sublime Text for JavaScript(Node.js, React...) development.<p>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.<p>Few months ago, I found out about the Nuclide from Facebook. But it was based on Atom. So I didn&#x27;t interest about it. However, recently I have to develop many things with React, and I felt a little lacking with WebStorm&#x27;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.<p>Does it happen only for me?<p>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&#x27;ll use the React more and more. However, for now, WebStrom is the best tool for me, and ES6 supports also getting better.<p>I&#x27;m just wondering how peoples think about it.
Is it good for you?
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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.

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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...](http://www.johnpapa.net/intellisense-witha-visual-studio-code/)

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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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

