
Atom now using Io.js - skyllo
https://github.com/atom/atom/releases/tag/v0.177.0
======
juddlyon
For those of you who like me who aren't sure what this is about: Atom - text
editor from Github, Io.js - node.js fork.

~~~
sanderjd
Ah, thanks, I forgot that was the name of the fork and was definitely puzzled.

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dshankar
This isn't particularly surprising, NW.js (previously called node-webkit)
switched to IO.js as well.

Edit: to clarify, this is relevant because both Atom and NW.js use a webkit
shell.

~~~
teleclimber
Oddly enough Atom-Shell has apparently not made the switch to IO.js? No
mention of it in the releases page.

[https://github.com/atom/atom-shell/releases](https://github.com/atom/atom-
shell/releases)

~~~
thedaniel
atom-shell absolutely has made the switch to io.js, that's where Atom's node
comes from.

~~~
teleclimber
Huh, I just downloaded the latest atom-shell and ran a hello-world that dumps
the "node" version and it says v1.0.0-pre. That sounds like IO.js alright.

Why then would they still refer to "Node" in the release notes, all the way up
to the most recent version??

"Fix initializing node integration in the webview when the page in it
navigates."[1]

[https://github.com/atom/atom-shell/releases](https://github.com/atom/atom-
shell/releases)

~~~
xpaulbettsx
That's just a typo, it indeed does refer to io.js integration in WebView tags.

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sigzero
Until they fix the 2MB limitation on editing files. No way.

~~~
frewsxcv
Why do all threads about Atom seem to be full of people opening huge files
with text editors? I've never had performance issues with Atom with a 2013
MBA.

~~~
smacktoward
Today I learned that in 2015 a 2MB text file is "huge."

~~~
untog
How often do you find yourself editing a 2MB file _of code_? If the answer is
"often", I'd strongly suggest refactoring.

~~~
toong
I often use ST to analyse some log files. Do you have any other tooling
suggestions besides the command line with grep/awk/... ?

~~~
untog
Not really, no. I can't say I've ever used a text editor to search a huge log
file in that way.

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joshstrange
This is good news but I'm a little confused, if Io.js supports ES6 why do you
need 6to5?

~~~
netcraft
ES6 support is not a binary thing. IO.js has a newer version of V8 that
supports more ES6 features than node.js's V8 version, but its not even close
to all of ES6. to 6to5 shims the rest of the ES6 featureset. see here for more
info: [http://kangax.github.io/compat-
table/es6/](http://kangax.github.io/compat-table/es6/)

~~~
Touche
This doesn't explain it, why do you need to compile ES6 at run-time? Plugin
authors should compile before distributing.

This would annoy me as a user, I don't care that you really want the
await/async feature. ES5 is not that bad. It's not like the difference between
Lua and Vimscript. Just use ES5 or compile your ES6 prior to distributing.

~~~
xpaulbettsx
You compile ES6 at run-time in developer mode - ES6 compiles are cached and
installing a plugin precompiles it on your machine automatically. However, if
you're developing a plugin, ES6 will be compiled on-the-fly.

The summary is, It Just Works™, efficiently.

~~~
Touche
Cool, I retract my complaint then.

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jbrooksuk
What does this mean for Atom? Is it faster? Is the compiled size now smaller?

~~~
kenperkins
Most likely it means that there's a newer V8 involved. Otherwise there's not a
tremendous delta.

~~~
proksoup
This is bigger news for io.js than it is for atom. <<< I think is the lede.

~~~
Fishrock123
Yes. It is arguably larger news for io.js.

However, that io.js ships with v8 4.1 is quite a large step ahead for
dependants, not just for language features, but also under-the-hood stability
and performance.

Of course, there is also everything that node 0.11.x has, plus a release
schedule to match Atom's own release cadence. :)

~~~
vacri
io.js also ships with the node.js active core developers...

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kikki
This is interesting, and a very big business move to make the switch. Does
this say something for the future of Node?

~~~
xasos
I though the whole point of io.js was that they would work on the project
faster than Node, but eventually merge back into Node once Joyent became more
transparent. The Node release cycle was pretty slow and they had some dispute
with the contributors (top 5 original Node contributors now working on io.js)

~~~
cpeterso
Why would the io.js team bother merging their changes "upstream" to Node?
io.js has momentum and mindshare.

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Wintamute
They publicly stated they will merge back in upstream eventually all being
well. They're doing it for the good of Node.js, not to create a rift and
divide the community's efforts.

~~~
mcantelon
IIRC the Node Forward initiative was more explicitly focussed on merging back
than io.js is. The subtext of io.js seems to be "we'll move forward with or
without Node moving foward with us".

~~~
xasos
Yup. Also because Joyent asked that Node Forward not use the "node" term, even
though it was in public domain a lot longet than Joyent's been around.

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luisrudge
plus 6to5 support! :)

~~~
agmcleod
Any idea if that would mean auto compilation for your own files in a project?
Or is it more for plugins and such?

~~~
dmnd
It's for plugins:
[https://github.com/atom/atom/pull/5299](https://github.com/atom/atom/pull/5299)

~~~
mmebane
I'm curious as to how they will handle 6to5 versioning. 6to5 seems to be very
much in a "move fast and break things" stage, and I'm not sure that's going to
change any time soon.

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crucialfelix
I was just wondering today when this might happen. specifically because I want
to use generators in a plugin (supercollider ide). great job guys !

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visarga
90% of my work is on remote files by SFTP/SSH. How's that working in Atom?

~~~
Hapa
You do have have few packages which helps you connect remotely.

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jbeja
Who cares? Is going to be slow an unusable non the less.

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jtth
Why would I ever use a text editor that uses even node.js, let alone some even
newer thing? I don't understand how people can commit to such a thing.

~~~
Hapa
You might use it if you are familiar with javascript as many people are. It
makes creating packages for many people possible.

