It's getting harder to learn a new editor for me.

Posted by MediocreAdviceBuddy@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 25 comments

Hi everyone,

I've been using my current editor for a few years now. I know the keybindings, how to use the internal tools, everything.

However, I don't see the future in this tool. As everyone, we're kind of required to start using AI more (and even if this gets me downvoted into oblivion, I quite like it for a lot of use cases, as long as it's used as the tool it is and not as a replacement dev), and that means using new editors. I know it doesn't have to be this way, and especially with CLI, you can use extensions; however, we get corporate-sponsored tools that have their own editor which is not the one I prefer.

And I believe it's a sign of age, but it's hard for me. I'm so used to my tools that it's almost a physical pain to switch. Most things I miss from my old editor: File hopping, search, and the git diff view.

Especially with the AI tools, there's a lot of diff viewing going on, and it's like learning a new visual language for me.

Can anyone relate? Should I just deinstall the old editor?

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Fabulous-Possible758@reddit

What's the editor? I personally think shoehorning your workflow into subpar half-thought out corporate editors is a waste of time, but if you're gung-ho on using Notepad or something that's also probably a nonstarter. For the time being, programmer's jobs will still involve shoveling a lot of text around; your editor is your chef's knife. Take care of it; it takes care of you.

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MediocreAdviceBuddy@reddit (OP)

IntelliJ -> Cursor/VS Code for nodejs. Both are good editors for the tech.

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tmarthal@reddit

Just install the IntelliJ bindings for VSCode.

30 years later I still use the Eclipse keybindings in my IDEs. 🤷

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fschwiet@reddit

I use an AI CLI alongside my editor of choice. Turn on autosave on VS Code and it'll stay in sync with the CLI (picking up the CLI's changed immediately because yours were already saved). I assume Intellij already does autosave as JetBrains Rider does as well.

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DeterminedQuokka@reddit

Both also can integrate with Claude

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MediocreAdviceBuddy@reddit (OP)

Claude is not something that I can get paid by the company yet. They're getting there, but slowly.

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chikamakaleyley@reddit

honestly, stay on your editor of choice

install the company backed one, but use it for only the chat capability, if you can

that's pretty much how i do it, its a bit cumbersome, but you at least stay sharp w ur existing tooling, you still make sure of some AI assistance if needed/required to use

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MoistConsequence9338@reddit

What you're feeling is real and honestly more interesting than a tool preference problem.

The resistance isn't really about the editor. Your nervous system has built deep grooves around your current workflow - the keystrokes, the visual layout, the git diff view - and switching isn't just a learning curve, it's your brain being asked to abandon patterns it automated over years. That costs actual energy. Cognitive load is a physical process and your body is telling you exactly that.

In Eastern medicine there's a concept around pattern and flow. The mind resists not because something is wrong with it but because disruption to established rhythm is genuinely taxing to the system. What you're calling "almost physical pain" is your nervous system being accurate.

Before you uninstall anything: may be try not to fight the resistance head on. Give yourself permission to be slow with the new tool for about a week, deliberately bad, no pressure to be efficient. Your brain needs to build new grooves without the old ones being ripped out. Running both in parallel is less painful than cold turkey and neurologically smarter.

The deeper question worth sitting with is whether the corporate AI pressure is the actual stressor here and the editor is just where it landed. Because that's a different problem with a different answer.

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bluetrust@reddit

We can go to chatgpt ourselves.

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MediocreAdviceBuddy@reddit (OP)

I like the AI part of it. It fits my mental model of work way better than coding ever did.

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throwaway_0x90@reddit

"I know it doesn't have to be this way, and especially with CLI, you can use extensions; however, we get corporate-sponsored tools that have their own editor which is not the one I prefer."

So those files are completely out of reach of your favorite editor and you *MUST* use the corp one? I doubt that, unless your fav-editor is specifically breaking company policy and you shouldn't be using it at all.

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franz_see@reddit

I moved from notepad++ to eclipse to jetbrains to vscode to nvim

Those are just the main ones.

It’s just something you need to learn and need to do every few years.

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rahul91105@reddit

Well you can try multiple things:

1.) use extension/plugin in your editor for the AI tools. 2.) move your preferred key binding to the new editor. 3.) Use terminal/shell for the AI tools. 4.) Use both, do the ai work in the ai editor and the manual work in your editor.

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gfivksiausuwjtjtnv@reddit

Honestly feel like I’m losing some abilities (like using my bloody iPhone, can’t figure out how to do half the stuff coming from Android)

But is better to do it just for the sake of keeping your brain young

Switching from vs to vscode was fantastic for my career as well even if it took a whule to adjust, i want to finally learn vim soon but that’s a bit more of a leap!

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TribeWars@reddit

For learning vim keybindings I suggest you use a vim emulation plugin for your current editor. You can focus on learning the basic text editing workflow without having to set up all the other configuration.

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TastyToad@reddit

You can always start small. I've been using vi/vim for nearly two decades as a default text editor in terminal, with a very limited set of shortcuts/commands.

Only recently, with a switch to CLI based LLM tools, I've started using it more, learning new stuff along the way. It's surprisingly easy to get used to, once you grasp the basics.

So don't sweat it, take your time, learn one thing before moving on to the next one.

(I can now see the appeal and actually regret using it like a caveman for all these years.)

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13--12@reddit

I just use both IntelliJ and Claude code in the terminal

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wildrabbit12@reddit

Learn vim, learn once

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gabancooper@reddit

Uso Nvim e uma saída que encontrei foi usar IA via CLI, quando preciso de algo mais mainstream tipo mexer em frontend uso o Zed que suporta nativamente os Vim Motions

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gfivksiausuwjtjtnv@reddit

I switched from windows, visual studio, c#, azure, monolith and SQL to mac, vscode, typescript, distributed microservices, AWS, noSQL using single table design

That was a learning curve. Took me ages.

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FlamboMe-mow@reddit

You can always use both, the new editor for prompting the AI and the old editor for everything else. This is how I use antigravity since I've so used to Jetbrain IDEs and can't stand VS Code-fork editors. It's a bit clunky but I get the best of both worlds

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Empanatacion@reddit

Use the AI editor as if it were a CLI just modifying your files and keep using your regular editor.

Copilot came out with a CLI version in February, which I switched to because the intellij plugin won't let you turn on yolo mode.

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