I really don't get why this is the modern editor style of choice.
20% (35 chars) of screen space permanently wasted on a always on file browser (meanwhile the animation showcases fuzzy finding)
4% (7 chars) of screen space permanently wasted by line numbers (why are the numbers cut off on the right?)
2.7% (5 chars) of screen space taken up by a gutter
So 27% of screen space effectively dead 99% of the time.
Why do people do this to themselves?
I can't quite figure out how to get the gutter to truly only appear when needed (I can't remember why) but in my vim configuration 2 chars of space are taken up by the gutter and the rest is for the actual code. The current line number is in the bottom right, and if I need to go to a specific line number I have `G` for that. If I need a file explorer, there's the default Netrw one, there's NERD Tree, there's a terminal (I actually rarely need this anyway, but I can understand not everyone can cope, but I can't comprehend why you would need it on 100% of the time).
Why does the "modern text editor" waste so much screen space?
I have a 1200p laptop monitor which gives me 174 chars of horizontal space at a comfortable font size. If I split that in half I get two terminal windows worth of 87 characters each. If I keep my code under 85 characters per line, not only is it easier to read, I can keep a man page or another piece of code on the other half of my screen.
> 20% (35 chars) of screen space permanently wasted on a always on file browser
That is toggleable. Cmd+B on Mac. I usually keep it closed, but it's just a shortcut away when I need it.
> 4% (7 chars) of screen space permanently wasted by line numbers
You can disable that in the settings with:
"gutter": { "line_numbers": false }
> 2.7% (5 chars) of screen space taken up by a gutter
You can also disable the other items in the gutter to free up all of that space.
> So 27% of screen space effectively dead 99% of the time.
You can also press shift+esc at any time to toggle a fullscreen pane of whatever you are working on when you need more space without affecting your editor's state. I don't know the name of that action, I actually found that accidentally.
Edit: I forgot to mention, you can actually disable the tab bar now too if you want even more space. You would just need to rely on the tab switcher feature or file search to move around.
I would damn hope you can configure/disable this. But why is it the default?
And if the answer is "discoverability" then where is the default-on fuzzy find, default-on command palette, default-on context menu, etc?
My point was not to claim Zed was bad because I had the ignorant misapprehension that it was incapable of being cleaner, my point was to ask why people desire such a cluttered workspace by default? Most people I see using these editors _don't_ disable all this clutter.
I haven't tried Zed and am unlikely to, but I get 238 characters of fantasque sans mono 11pt on my 1200p screen, so I could give up those spaces and still have two vertical panes (assuming Zed supports vertical panes and the file-browser isn't duplicated).
I think lots of people are comfortable with smaller fonts, but I find myself genuinely straining my eyes too much and getting headaches if I go smaller than this, and I already wear glasses (although I should probably update my prescription).
Oh, there's no "right answer" to font size, but the fact that my size would work on a 1200p screen (and many of my coworkers have significantly larger screens and younger eyes than I) could go towards explaining why the sidebar is on by default and the gutter is so huge.
I agree with you and probably have a similar setup to you.
There's a % of people that like to think deeper about their tools, but I think most folks don't care enough or might be struggling with higher priority things at work. Plus, you don't know what you're missing.
For me, good setup is like compound interest that just keeps paying off over time.
There's the relative number line etc, but I've never actually encountered a situation where I felt the need to make a jump to a line number on the screen and didn't do it with basic vim motions instead. Every time I'm going to a specific line number, it's because I'm following an error message that references a file and line number.
20% (35 chars) of screen space permanently wasted on a always on file browser (meanwhile the animation showcases fuzzy finding)
4% (7 chars) of screen space permanently wasted by line numbers (why are the numbers cut off on the right?)
2.7% (5 chars) of screen space taken up by a gutter
So 27% of screen space effectively dead 99% of the time.
Why do people do this to themselves?
I can't quite figure out how to get the gutter to truly only appear when needed (I can't remember why) but in my vim configuration 2 chars of space are taken up by the gutter and the rest is for the actual code. The current line number is in the bottom right, and if I need to go to a specific line number I have `G` for that. If I need a file explorer, there's the default Netrw one, there's NERD Tree, there's a terminal (I actually rarely need this anyway, but I can understand not everyone can cope, but I can't comprehend why you would need it on 100% of the time).
Why does the "modern text editor" waste so much screen space?
I have a 1200p laptop monitor which gives me 174 chars of horizontal space at a comfortable font size. If I split that in half I get two terminal windows worth of 87 characters each. If I keep my code under 85 characters per line, not only is it easier to read, I can keep a man page or another piece of code on the other half of my screen.