By Elson Correia
Let me introduce you to the biggest problem with IntelliJ and WebStorm IDEs I face.
Indexing…
Also, lately, I've been unlucky in file and content search as it has gotten sluggish. I believe it to be a temporary bug but, it is extremely inconvenient.
I work for AWS and the applications I deal with are massive. Often I need to keep many projects open due to tight dependencies.
I'm talking about complex microservices and micro frontend infrastructure which oftentimes lead to 2-15 minutes of indexing wait time whenever I open a project or build the system locally. I have the option to build things in the cloud and edit them locally but that does not help with the initial indexing among other things.
Enters Zed
I heard about Zed on Reddit. Perhaps someone from the Zed team posted about it when they first launched like a casual, “Hey look at this new code editor” kind of post. I even posted my reaction on the spot after I tried it.
It did not have extensions at first so, I didn’t adopt it.
Many months later, I came across another post about it so I checked it out again to find out they added extensions support with tons of themes, so I tried it again.
Mind blown…
I tried with my work projects and it saved me so much indexing time as it simply opened the project and let me dive in.
I am still in an adaptation period and it's painful to break 10 years of shortcuts and coding habits. But, I'll do anything to not sit in front of my laptop waiting for indexing to finish while my Laptop fans go crazy and I see all the RAM being used which renders my laptop useless for the time being.
I love JetBrains IDEs
Let me paint a picture of what kind of JetBrains IDE programmer I am.
I only use a single tab and rely heavily on shortcuts to jump to files. “Cmd + E” is my favorite which allows me to quickly see all the files I've visited and jump anywhere seamlessly.
“Cmd + Shift + F” is amazing and I can quickly find anything in a massive project. These can be usages, files, patterns, etc. It is probably the most powerful search tool ever.
“Cmd + Shift + R” allows me to quickly find patterns and replace them globally all at once or case by case. My favorite pattern refactoring tool across files.
Something I miss the most is the refactoring tools.
Having to rename a file and let the editor update all the imports for that file in the project is amazing. Especially if the project is big. The same thing happens when I move a file or folder to a different place. The IDE updates all imports and path references to that file or directory.
JetBrains Editors are the best in refactoring jobs. Period!
The same goes for renaming variables or quickly searching for a selected text or pattern in the file. Code refactoring experience is just the best of its kind.
I'm not even going to mention incredible code intellisence, and editor-smart actions like automatic import, code simplification tips, list of actions to take, etc.
Running tests and debugging is powerful. There is no code bug I can’t find with such tools. No other editor gave me such experience.
Anyways, JetBrains editors are the best. Period!
But why adopt Zed then?
Speed
At this moment something fast is all I need. I can compromise on those experiences just to have something snappy. Quickly open a file, make changes, and move on.
I can't afford minute intervals between coding, and both my personal and work laptops can't handle my insane project infrastructure.
Zed opens a project instantly and right away the theme is loaded, my code looks great, im ready to type and navigate through.
Code Intellisense is available without installing anything. That goes for formatting, linting, etc. it just works. It's amazing!
I believe even typing code feels faster and snappier as well — maybe it's just me.
Same for actions like deleting the entire node_modules folder. It's fast!
I rarely see indexing messages. I click a function or class name and it takes me straight to the file even if it's in the node_modules.
Even when I rebuild the project it is still snappier. For JetBrains IDEs, that often means waiting for indexing to finish.
Cost
My job pays for these editors for me and for my projects, I pay for these editors. I love the experience so much that I'm willing to spoil myself with the best IDEs out there. Why not?
With Zed thats not an issue. It's free to use and it's amazing. Honestly, if Zed adds some of the above experiences I mentioned, I wouldn’t mind paying for it as well.
For now, free is great!
Simplicity
Zed is simple although JetBrains Editors are also sleek and have gotten simpler over the years, Zed takes it to another level.
JetBrains IDEs are complex. With 10 years of experience using them, I am comfortable jumping into the settings for whatever but it can easily overwhelm anyone new. I remember feeling like that when I first started using them. I had to watch tutorials to learn, still do occasionally!
JetBrains offers IDEs which are a class above editors. It’s not even fair to compare Zed with them since it is just an editor, of course, its simpler and faster. Duh!
But simplicity is something you appreciate when dealing with a lot of complexity. In my case, I just need something that does not overwhelm me on top of all I have to deal with when coding.
Zed has potential but…
Unfortunately, Zed still does not cover all the basics.
Programming is complex and every case is a different case.
Thats why JetBrains offer IDEs of every flavor tailored to the type of programming you do.
Having to cover all that with a single editor is tough, perhaps impossible. So how do you do it?
Customization…
Extensions are great and Zed checked that box but it does not come close to the number of plugins JetBrains IDEs offer.
One thing I did not find was Amazon Q Developer (CodeWhsiper) extension which is free and I often used to avoid paying for AI help to code. Not to mention tons of others for working with cloud infrastructure.
Integration with AI is a winner and Zed options are now limited. That’s something to invest in in these crazy AI times.
Testing experience is also lacking.
Complex codebase requires complex and rich testing and debugging tools. There is no bug I can't find when I'm running a JetBrains IDE. I keep finding silly bugs with Zed that make me go back often to fix them. I'm still adapting to Zed so, it's not a deal breaker yet.
Smart refactoring capabilities are essential.
Silly things like renaming files, and variables, as well as moving code around sound silly but when you deal with projects with millions of lines of code like I do, having to find all the references and update them is a painful experience that often leads to bugs and broken code.
I found some unexpected experiences that got me shocked that Zed hasn’t covered them yet:
- Changing things via Git does not always update their related opened tabs. For example, discarding changes that remove files can still be accessed in the editor as if nothing happened.
- Copy a file anywhere on my computer and paste it into a folder in my Zed project is not possible.
- Copying files from a Zed project and pasting them into another is not possible.
- I cannot undo or redo a file I just created, moved, or deleted via Zed editor.
- Out-of-focus tabs stay opened when related files are removed.
- Sometimes I have out-of-sync files when I pull or change git branches. Some files seem to have old content or just linger around when they shouldn’t.
- Visualizing or previewing images or Markdown files is also not possible.
- Having to remember to hit “Cmd + S” as I move around even with autosave is inconvenient as it only saves the current file I'm on. “Cmd + S” should save all changes across files and the window change detector is not great.
- …and more
All these among other things are possible with JetBrains IDEs and the devil is in the details.
I can definitely see Zed or the community covering these in the next year or so. Thats why Ill stick around to see where it goes.
I never liked VSCode even though I used to rock VSStudio back in 2012 — the reason I moved to JetBrains. Zed is definitely better than VSCode in my opinion and it's doing a lot of things right from the get-go.
Zed has potential but it still has a lot of basic features and functionality to cover…
Conclusion
Im gonna rock Zed alongside my JetBrains IDEs at work and at home. Zed is a great editor for small projects or when all you need is to make some small changes in a big corporate project.
Its sleek, extremely fast, free and has great potential.
Still…
This article doesn’t cover 10% of all the great things JetBrains IDEs can do that Zed is missing. For a power user like me, that is saying a lot.
Zed is doing what JetBrains failed to do with Fleet and shows that JetBrains still have a gap to cover. Not all projects are big or complex, and bringing JetBrains IDEs for a simple project is like bringing a tank into a street fight.
One idea, JetBrains should buy Zed and keep it free. At least, it should learn from Zed or leave that space completely.
For now, Zed is a great sidekick for the IDEs I use.