Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Mnemonic and consistent key bindings
Key bindings are organized in mnemonic namespaces, for instance buffer actions are under b
, file actions under f
, project actions under p
, search actions under s
etc...
Key bindings are consistent across the whole distribution thanks to a set of conventions.
Pro Configuration layer architecture
At the heart of Spacemacs, the configuration layers group packages configuration into semantic units that can be toggled on and off. The architecture is simple but powerful allowing to easily manage configuration dependencies between hundreds of packages.
Pro Great support from the community
The community is very active and there is a welcoming gitter chat to ask for questions.
Pro Will teach you Vi(m) keys
While one must know or learn either traditional Emacs keybindings or vi-like keybindings in order to use Spacemacs, the project includes a special version of the classic vimtutor for teaching users how to use vi-style keybindings. Spacemacs thus provides a great place to learn vi keys for new users.
Pro Simple but powerful configuration architecture
At the heart of Spacemacs, the configuration layers group packages configuration into semantic units that can be toggled on and off. The architecture is simple but powerful, allowing the user to easily manage configuration dependencies between hundreds of packages.
Cons
Con Requires prior experience in Vim or Emacs
They have a very poor guide to new users who are not familiar with this type of editor. You should have experience using Vi(-m) or Emacs. Spacemacs is distributed based on Emacs, so you should learn the basic of Emacs. This is not a means to learn from the Emacs's original distribution(GNU Emacs) rather than Spacemacs. Although the advantages of Spacemacs can offset the fundamental difficulty of Emacs, it means that you have to learn another new features and modes beyond the Emacs.
Con Installation instructions are not beginner friendly
Installation instructions, that can be found here require familiarity with the command line and a prerequisite of Emacs. There's no handholding for the installation.
Con Relative low startup time
Although configuration is heavily loaded, the starting time of Spacemacs is usually between two and five seconds. Emacs can be run as a daemon though which reduces the client's startup time to a few milliseconds. Still not as bad as other editors though, especially Electron based ones like VSCode or Atom.
Con High CPU and unresponsive at times
There are occasions when Spacemacs would suddenly consume a LOT of CPU and then other times would become completely unresponsive. This instability took place only 6 months or so ago. Restarting Spacemacs can fix it for a while but perhaps this issue is already fixed in newer versions.
Con Slow startup time
Although configuration is heavily loaded, the starting time of Spacemacs is usually between two and five seconds. Emacs can be run as a daemon though which reduces the client's startup time to a few milliseconds.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Pro Mnemonic and consistent keybindings
Space-lead key bindings are organized in mnemonic namespaces. For instance, buffer actions are under SPC b
, file actions are under SPC f
, project actions are under SPC p
, search actions are under SPC s
, and so on. Keybindings are consistent across the whole distribution thanks to a set of conventions.
Pro Combines the best parts of Vi and Emacs
Spacemacs combines the Emacs platform (with the full power of the Emacs plugin ecosystem) and the Vi keybindings (via EViL), all in the same box.