Context
Recently I tried using ZED the new code editor which claims to be fast by using less system resources. On my new company I was provided with a Macbook air, since it old and still uses intel processors it was kinda slow. But it was usable. As a long time VSCode user, as usual I installed vscode and used, since node js takes some memory, vscode was laggy with my project. So I switched to ZED.
Why ZED ?
Zed claimed to be fast and performant, with less resource conception (which is true btw). And i thought it would be great, I installed zed, opened my next js project, Installed some extensions for React & Tailwind. I was good to go, until..
Why I hate ZED
It was OK using zed at first, since its a lightweight software I didn't expect it to perform much, but It was awesome, the suggestion was fast. But when I select a suggestion something else gets entered, likewise for autoimport, It didn't import the files, which I selected from auto import suggestion.
Even though I didn't expect a full grown jetbrains like editor, at least I expected it work with the features they given, why show suggestion If you can't even enter the clicked suggestion. Same for autoimport.
Using zed was like using notepad for me, I was simply writing my code, except zed has color theme, but notepad doesn't.
This was my experience with ZED, I assume since its a new software bugs like these are expected, and will be fixed soon. Sometimes I get too frustrated writing in ZED with their bugs. First of all I'm struggling with my bugs, I don't have luxury to enjoy other's bugs.
Conclusion
Even though I hate ZED as it is now, It was a life saver for me, It barely used any system resource which was a huge help. But still If you ask me, I prefer good old VI over ZED now.
ZED got a huge potential, and I think it will shine in future, and I expect them to kill VScode by next year. I would like to personally switch to ZED on all of my machines.
Top comments (4)
Zed looks and feels like SublimeText but with diferent icon. It uses a bit more memory, and has a built in terminal which is nice (it can run any powershell command so far, and it has autocomplete).
It starts as fast as SublimeText but slower than classic notepad.
For me it took 50 minutes to build on windows + some other rust stuff I needed to install.
I built it in one self-contained executable.
Currently I'm on Zed Dev 0.202.0.
For now I haven't seen any bugs and I will still use it.
I'd suggest trying SublimeText - it's every bit as capable as VSCode, is much faster, and far less of a resource hog
I use sublime, but I prefer other alternatives. Currently I use neovim with lsp configured.
LSP is great. Super helpful. Been using it on Sublime for years.