
Atom 1.11 - madspindel
http://blog.atom.io/2016/10/11/atom-1-11.html
======
edditoria
People said V8 is power hungry and drain the battery so much. A few days ago I
forgot to bring the power adaptor, so I have no choice but run on battery.
Then, I try again today. And here is the result:

Day 1: Atom and Google Chrome:
[https://mobile.twitter.com/Edditoria/status/7858488116043776...](https://mobile.twitter.com/Edditoria/status/785848811604377601/photo/1)

Day 2: Sublime Text and Safari:
[https://mobile.twitter.com/Edditoria/status/7858488116043776...](https://mobile.twitter.com/Edditoria/status/785848811604377601/photo/2)

I didn't disable any packages and extensions, because I need them for daily
work. So the result represent what I actually need. I also intended to avoid
activities other than coding and checking email.

In short, Sublime Text and Safari survive longer. But Atom and Chrome are
usable, at least.

For me, I will continue to use Atom and Chrome. Because Atom is more direct
and user-friendly to me, and I feel much better on Chrome Dev Tool (sorry but
feel better than Firefox). Another reason is that I can show others who want
to learn programming. The licence for ST is not cheap for them.

I know 2-days testing is not enough, so would try again if I can.

First time to comment here. Sorry for bad English.

~~~
Brajeshwar
Hey, Seeing your menubar item reminded of a software - Bartender[1]. I like
it; you might.

It looks a bit like this -
[https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqjrz2wiwuxho4z/Screenshot%202016-...](https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqjrz2wiwuxho4z/Screenshot%202016-10-12%2008.41.38.png?dl=0)

1\. [https://www.macbartender.com/](https://www.macbartender.com/)

~~~
automathematics
Think it's broken still on Sierra :(

~~~
Brajeshwar
Works for me. If I remember correctly, they upgraded it for Sierra a while
back.

------
homulilly
I like Atom but I ditched it in favor of Visual Studio Code because it has
per-project settings, something Atom still lacks. The only thing I really miss
is the ternjs extension. Typescript's intellisense is nice but requires quite
a bit of setup to actually work.

~~~
mrspeaker
I liked Visual Studio Code but ditched it because it created .vscode folders
all over my filesystem... is there a way to turn that off?

~~~
dchest
I also had this problem for some time: turns out C/C++ extension automatically
created them for every directory that you open. I uninstalled it and it
stopped.

------
madenine
Only thing keeping me with Atom is Hydrogen[0], which lets me have all the
things I like about jupyter notebooks without some of the things I don't like
about jupyter notebooks.

I've tried VS Code and liked it - if anyone knows of an equivalent/replacement
for Hydrogen in VS Code I'll make the switch.

[0] [https://atom.io/packages/hydrogen](https://atom.io/packages/hydrogen)

~~~
octref
Take a look at Python extension for VSCode[0]. Excerpt from feature section:

Scientific tools (Jupyter/IPython)

\- Executing blocks of code (cells) in a Jupyter Kernel

\- Managing kernels (restarting, stopping, interrupting and selecting
different kernels)

\- Viewing interactive graphs, HTML, SVG, laText output from Jupyter from
within Visual Studio Code

[0]:
[https://github.com/DonJayamanne/pythonVSCode](https://github.com/DonJayamanne/pythonVSCode)

~~~
TimonVS
The Jupyter integration was actually released today!

Thanks for mentioning this, I wouldn't have noticed otherwise :).

------
gh1
My atom crashes every time I try to open a huge text file (containing data of
some sort). Other text editors handle them just fine.

This time they added a configuration option for the large file warning
threshold. This isn't enough.

Anyone else have the same problem?

~~~
guessmyname
They added an option at _" Settings > Core"_ to _" Warn before opening files
larger than this number of megabytes"_. I don't use Atom at all, but after so
much discussion about this issue I don't think there is a better solution.
This clearly shows the difference in performance of a web-based text editor
versus one built on top of a native UI library, but people prefer to sacrifice
that performance for the _nice_ interface and the extensibility, I suppose
that many of these happy Atom users don't work on huge projects like some of
us do, Atom works okay for what it offers.

~~~
apetresc
I don't think "huge projects" factors into it at all, no reasonable source
file should ever come anywhere close to the Atom file size limit. If you have
13MB source files you have more serious problems than your choice of text
editor.

The kind of files that choke Atom are large data files that there are usually
better/different tools for, that have very different requirements from code
editing. And that has little to do with the relative huge-ness of your
projects.

~~~
SOLAR_FIELDS
I regularly deal with this problem because my use case demands viewing huge
JSON files of size > 20 MB with lines of text that can exceed tens of
thousands of characters (WKB polygons). You can argue that Atom is not suited
to this particular use-case (and I would agree), but what can we do to make it
better? I'm very curious as to the specific aspects of Electron/Atom that make
this kind of operation slow and would be willing to contribute to make it
faster.

It's already been proven that Javascript can be fast for this kind of thing.
So there is something in the infrastructure that can be improved.

------
colept
I switched to Atom this year and haven't looked back. I love the customization
and it's been a breeze to work with.

~~~
ngrilly
What have you been using before? And why have you switched?

~~~
colept
I was using Coda for Mac because of it's integrated SFTP and project
management. Over the years it became slow and cumbersome to use, and I have
since switched to local development and version control.

------
wyldfire
I've got mixed feelings about Atom. I've been using it a bunch for python and
markdown. Last I checked there was mediocre support for having smarter
indentation behavior w/Python. And it does choke on very large files as
reported by another HN commenter.

But on the bright side it's very clear and useful to have python lint output
from pyflakes or similar. gvim+pyflakes is decent, but Atom's presentation
feels more modern. Atom's markdown renderer is very convenient.

~~~
josteink
I haven't really used Atom much, but from the sound of it, Visual Studio Code
should be a drop in replacement which has all your needs covered.

Python in VS Code is great. Best debugging experience I've had with python.

Disclaimer: Emacs user.

------
transcranial
If anybody likes transparent backgrounds, I wrote up a quick guide on how to
enable it for Atom: [https://github.com/transcranial/atom-
transparency](https://github.com/transcranial/atom-transparency)

------
brazzledazzle
Despite the virtually guaranteed negativity toward Atom in any post about Atom
on HN I'm a happy user and it works quite well for me.

------
kinkdr
I want to like Atom but I find the indentation problems make it unusable for
code for me. I really wish the would focus on fixing that before adding more
secondary features.

~~~
apetresc
What indentation problems, out of curiosity?

~~~
kinkdr
It just isn't able get indentation right.

For example, just a random snip out of a random file:

    
    
      let tree = root.render({state: store.getState(), push: store.push})
        let rootNode = createElement(tree)
        let oldRootNode = document.getElementById('root')
        oldRootNode.parentElement.replaceChild(rootNode, oldRootNode)
        store.subscribe(() => {
          let newTree = root.render({state: store.getState(), push: store.push})
            let patches = diff(tree, newTree)
            rootNode = patch(rootNode, patches)
            tree = newTree
        })
        
    

VS will get the indentation right, but Atom will not(notice how "let
rootNode..." and everything after that is pushed in).

~~~
BinaryIdiot
Hmm are you using a special plugin for this? I haven't had a single
indentation issue with atom and I'm also writing JavaScript all day. The only
issue I've seen is opening an older file that mixes tabs and spaces when ch
sometimes makes it harder to read. Even the beautify plugin seems to work well
for me.

~~~
kinkdr
Ops, you are right. That example was because of the "sane indentation" plugin,
that I installed in the hope to get better indentation. Below is an example
where plain Atom, without plugins, doesn't get indentation right (notice how
it pushes "onEmailChange" under "login"):

    
    
      const login = (email, password, remember) => a.chain(
        submitting(true),
        a.ajax({
          request: {
            url: '/api/sessions',
            method: 'POST',
            data: { email, password },
          },
          callback: (status, data) => (
            a.chain(submitting(false),
            a.setToken(data.token, remember),
            a.setUserId(data.userId),
            a.setAuth)),
          })
        )
    
        const onEmailChange = (push, value) => {
          push(emailChange(value))
        }

~~~
BinaryIdiot
This is something you're copying and pasting in or you're simply writing it
out? Also am I missing something or are you missing some syntax (callback has
no starting brace)? Also if `const onEmailChange` shouldn't be pushed out then
don't you need to end your const login sooner? I don't see where it's ended
here.

Granted maybe this is just some truncated example? I hadn't run into weird
spacing like this yet so maybe open a bug with something small with
reproduction steps?

~~~
kinkdr
It is something I am writing, then selecting-all and applying auto-
indentation.

`onEmailChange` doesn't even have an open or close curly bracket, it is the
indentation format that is confusing us. Below is the same code indented by
VS.

    
    
      const login = (email, password, remember) => a.chain(
        submitting(true),
        a.ajax({
          request: {
            url: '/api/sessions',
            method: 'POST',
            data: { email, password },
          },
          callback: (status, data) => (
            a.chain(submitting(false),
              a.setToken(data.token, remember),
              a.setUserId(data.userId),
              a.setAuth)),
        })
      )
    
      const onEmailChange = (push, value) => {
        push(emailChange(value))
      }
    
    

`const onEmailChange` shouldn't be under `login`. If you count the brackets
you will see that `login` ends before `onEmailChange` starts. But for some
reason Atom doesn't understand that.

Maybe my syntax is different than most, but I see problems like this all the
time with Atom. The exact same files indent fine in VS.

Regarding filing a bug, I thought about it, but then I didn't think anybody
would care about this.

~~~
BinaryIdiot
Hmm interesting. I tried typing out similar syntax but it seems to be
indenting correctly. Then again I don't use much ES6 if at all. So not sure.
I'm sure they would care though :)

------
tehwebguy
Been using Atom for a minute but probably am not taking advantage of it like I
should. Any indispensable plugins I should check out?

~~~
Malic
MiniMap - [https://atom.io/packages/minimap](https://atom.io/packages/minimap)

Project Manager - [https://atom.io/packages/project-
manager](https://atom.io/packages/project-manager) (this one is a must, IMHO)

Sublime Style Column Selection - [https://atom.io/packages/Sublime-Style-
Column-Selection](https://atom.io/packages/Sublime-Style-Column-Selection)

File Icons - [https://atom.io/packages/file-
icons](https://atom.io/packages/file-icons)

Sort Lines - [https://atom.io/packages/sort-
lines](https://atom.io/packages/sort-lines)

...and a pile of linters is most of my setup.

------
clessg
Very happy about the custom title bar option. It's really jarring for
everything on-screen to be dark other than the title bar.

Even better would an option to disable native full-screen in macOS. Does
anybody know if that is likely to ever happen?

~~~
shaan7
Why not simply use a dark theme for macOS itself?

------
mastazi
I had to abandon Atom due to a bug which basically makes it impossible, on
Windows, to un-maximise the Atom window [1].

This was a huge deal breaker for me, I hope it is fixed soon.

EDIT: I love Atom in general, it has some very convenient features, e.g. the
git info integrated in the UI and the file sidebar options which are more
complete than other editors; I did not mean to be overly negative with my
comment and I'm sorry if it seemed that way.

[1]
[https://github.com/atom/atom/issues/10720](https://github.com/atom/atom/issues/10720)

------
ivoras
And it still doesn't support non-US keyboards on Windows? :(

Can anyone use it to type characters including the AltGr modifier?

~~~
josteink
> And it still doesn't support non-US keyboards on Windows? :(

A text editor which doesn't support _keyboards_ after having been out for
years?

Just ditch that thing for something this side of the millennium marker eh?

Emacs, Vim, VS Code or whatever. They all support keyboards and they're all
open source too.

~~~
tomatsu
> Just ditch that thing for something this side of the millennium marker eh?

AltGr worked fine in DOS editors like the Borland Turbo C 1.0 "IDE" from 1987.

~~~
josteink
It was an intentional stab at an absolutely mind-blowing lacking.

I thought the Emacs reference would give it away, but oh well.

~~~
qwertyuiop924
For those of you not in the know, the modified TECO would eventually become
the first version of EMACS was built be RMS somewhere between '72-'74\. GLS
and RMS consolidated a collection of custom macros floating around the AI lab
into the first real version of Emacs in '76, on ITS. This was radically
different from the Emacs of today, but it was Emacs.

The first public release of GNU Emacs, the emacs which, along with its
derivatives, is pretty much the only one in use today (save those oddballs
using lispms, and the other oddballs using Hemlock derivatives), was released
in 1984, and is 32 years old. The original emacs is 40 years old.

~~~
cpr
...and that's why my Emacs finger habits are about 40 years old. Scary.

I miss ITS and TWENEX every so often...

~~~
qwertyuiop924
Wow. I didn't think I'd see any old-timers around here. I'm not one, in case
you're wondering.

If you want to scratch that ITS itch, you can emulate it, of course, or you
can request an account on UP
([http://up.update.uu.se](http://up.update.uu.se)).

If you want to know how to emulate ITS, or just want a refresher in how it
works, I recommend [http://its.victor.se/wiki/](http://its.victor.se/wiki/)

------
shmerl
Why isn't Atom packaged in Debian yet?

~~~
dflock
The core team all use Macs, maybe? Anyway - there's an automated, maintained
APT mirror/repo here: [https://github.com/alanfranz/atom-text-editor-
repository/blo...](https://github.com/alanfranz/atom-text-editor-
repository/blob/master/README.md)

~~~
shmerl
_> The core team all use Macs, maybe?_

That's comical and sad at the same time.

~~~
scottmf
Why's that?

~~~
shmerl
Sad because FOSS people are using proprietary OS / preferring Apple. And it
just sounded funny that core team didn't package it, because they all use
MacOS.

------
sotojuan
One thing I love about Atom (could apply to other Electron editor) that I
admit is very niche is that I can override color schemes using CSS. I just
open it in dev mode, find the class of the syntax I want to color it myself,
and fix it with CSS.

A lot of color schemes are imperfect and I'm weird so it bothers me a lot.
With Atom I can fix them in a very short time and I don't need to learn
anytihng new.

------
mcjiggerlog
I really wish someone had cracked native vim support in a modern gui editor -
I'm interested in using something like Atom but until I can do basic text
editing with 100% native vim (for productivity and health reasons), I really
can't make the switch.

Has there been any progress on this? Does neovim make this easier?

~~~
Jean-Philipe
I agree. I'm using Atom now since a few weeks, and really like it, but its
vim-mode is really not great, and the development of vim-mode stalled. I have
high hopes on neovim, but I think it will only play out in a few years from
now. Until then, there's a lot of work to do.

~~~
mcjiggerlog
I tried vim-mode too, but just trying to replicate vim is never going to work,
it needs to be native. It took me about 10 seconds of editing to get blocked
by an unsupported feature.

------
Dowwie
I love atom. I tried VS and went right back to Atom.

------
lukewrites
What I love about Atom and haven't been able to find in Sublime is the
terminal-plus[1] plugin. I know about SublimeREPL, but just don't think it's
as nice as terminal-plus. Any suggestions?

1\. [https://github.com/jeremyramin/terminal-
plus](https://github.com/jeremyramin/terminal-plus)

------
Brajeshwar
I really want to love Atom. Even with the least plugins enabled, it crashes
pretty frequently for me. Then, I moved back to Sublime. I've done this
ceremony about 3 times and I think it is time to just give up until some
miracle happens in Atom's land.

------
omaranto
Are there any Atom users around who used to use either Emacs or Vim and who
might share a few things they feel Atom does better? I'm curious about these
modern editors and sometimes wonder what they have to offer besides possibly
being easier to learn.

------
ksec
Are we save to assume VSCode has supercede Atom?

P.S - Do VSCode team contribute back to Electron?

------
puppetmaster3
I love Atom!

I have 15 years dev exp. Most other IDE have similar productivity to each
other - Atom is a step up.

------
qwertyuiop924
Do you finally have an uniform buffer model, so that text buffers get treated
the same as other buffers/windows/whatever atom is calling them?

No?

Well, then, I'm still not using Atom: unlike many, I don't mind JS, but not
having a uniform buffer model is a major regression from Emacs, and the
features we're getting instead just don't cut it.

~~~
groovy2shoes
I remember when Emacs stood for “Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping”. And
now Atom comes along... “Application To Overflow Memory”? In another 20 years,
will Atom be considered “lightweight” the way Emacs is now? Will Atom even
still be around? I'm fairly confident Emacs will still be around…

~~~
qwertyuiop924
I've got 8 gigs of ram, I'd like to see it try: the problem isn't memory
usage, it's weak, inconsistent abstractions.

