What sets CodeEdit apart from other code editors like VS Code?

[YousufSSyed]

Looking at the readme for CodeEdit, it seems like the main things that set it apart is the native Mac UI, and being written in Swift rather than Electron to use less resources. Don't get me wrong, those two things alone would make me switch from VS Code (and if VS Code extensions were supported). I'm wondering if there's anything else that makes it unique.

[austincondiff]

Hi @YousufSSyed. You are correct that CodeEdit is developed in Swift so it will be native to macOS unlocking performance not reachable in VS Code which uses Electron. It will also feel at home on your Mac complete with smooth scrolling with elastic overflow, system animations, and all the nice little details we enjoy in macOS. Conceptually, the UI will be quite a bit different from VS Code as documented here. Because of these differences VS Code extensions will need to be ported over, however I would venture to guess that some things that users needed an extension for in VS Code may come for free in CodeEdit.

The CodeEdit editor view will be based on tree-sitter which means incremental syntax highlighting. Each time text is changed, they highlight calculation will be scoped to the edit so the entire file does not need to be recalculated on each change. This will make editing feel very fast and seamless.

We are still in development for v1. The goal is to perfect the editing experience and reach feature parity with other comparable editors, then improve based on feedback.

Another key difference is we are open source and community led so we can more responsive to community feedback.

Let me know if you have any additional questions. I hope that helps.

[YousufSSyed]

This is a good answer. Can you also explain more about the UI differences between VS code and CodeEdit, and why VS code extensions wouldn't work?

[YousufSSyed]

Looking at the workspace page again, it doesn't (or doesn't seem so to me) look very different from VS Code's UI.

[matthijseikelenboom]

Well, how many differences are you expecting? And why should it be completely different? We derive most of the UI and UX from Xcode. So I'm going to draw the conclusion that what you're saying is that those UI's look a lot a like. To that I'd say, both are popular tools that gets used by lots of people, so they must do something right. The main difference is indeed the design language, the native look and feel. (When you just look at the UI/UX)

The reason that VSCode extensions don't work is simply because our app is written in Swift and VSCode is written in JavaScript/TypeScript. It's for the same reason VSCode extensions don't work on Jetbrains products. We all use fundamental different technologies. Next to that, we also want to provide a deeper and more robust extension system then VSCode, for example the support of Apple's SwiftUI and other native libraries.

[YousufSSyed]

I didn't say it should be completely different. This answers my question though.