Author Topic: Node.js debugger, Dockerfile, Schemastore  (Read 1028 times)

meenedit

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Node.js debugger, Dockerfile, Schemastore
« on: August 25, 2021, 09:10:07 AM »
Hi all,

I'm new here. I hope I'm in the right place with my feedback.

Thank you very much for your excellent work with SlickEdit. I downloaded Beta 2 and gave it a try. Overall I very like the new features and improvements. However, in my opinion, there are still a set of critical things missing.

Node.js debugger
You can argue pro and against Node.js. However, in my opinion, Node gets a significant role in today's software industry, and the support for its debugger is essential. I can't understand why you have excellent TypeScript and JavaScript support but don't provide a debugger integration. I found a way to go with lldb and the llnode plugin for lldb (https://github.com/nodejs/llnode) until certain points. However, it is not the same as full integration.

Dockerfile
In a way, it's a bit the same as with Node.js. You can argue pro and against Docker. However, it is a key tool in today's software industry. I would very much appreciate having syntax coloring support for Dockerfile or, even better, having a Docker integration in the manner of IntelliJ IDEA.

Schemastore
One thing I really like with LSP servers is the use of schemas. For example, with LSP-yaml, I can configure schemas from schemastore.org as reference files for the allowed keywords and structure. Suppose I use https://json.schemastore.org/ansible-role-2.9 for an ansible project in an editor that supports LSP-yaml. In that case, completion hints and linting point me to the correct usage of their specification. I don't want to say you have to integrate with LSP. However, a similar feature for schema validation of configuration files in YAML and JSON would be great!

Performance for large files
Something that surprised me was that BBEdit, a tiny editor compared to SlickEdit, can handle some large files better than SlickEdit. Recently, I had the awful task of editing a 5.82 GB SQL file. In SlickEdit, it opens without syntax highlighting. However, BBEdit could open the file more or less as fast as SlickEdit but with the full support of syntax highlighting and without performance penalties in editing.

Summary
I work on several projects across several programming languages. I find myself mainly in Python, Java, Ruby, Perl, C, and a rapidly growing part of Node-based projects. Overall, I would say SlickEdit is still a very, very good tool that helps me be productive in an excellent manner. However, it hurts when I see the speed of my coworkers with "free" products like VSCode in some technologies, especially in the Node.js environment and the integration of browser development tools. The growing part of Node-based projects will force me to go with another editor at some point if SlickEdit doesn't provide integration for the Node.js debugger. To be honest: I don't want to change, but I need a tool supporting me in all major programming languages. Configuring multiple editors for multiple programming languages isn't a use case I can handle. So, I really hope the support for the Node.js debugger comes quickly to SlickEdit.

Thank you very much for reading my lines. I wish you a great day.

Clark

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Re: Node.js debugger, Dockerfile, Schemastore
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2021, 04:14:59 PM »
Thanks for the suggestions.

You can configure when certain features like color coding are turned off. Tools>Options>Editing>General>Use Plain Text mode when file larger than (KB)-- Defaults to 50 megabytes. The file will take a lot longer to open once you do this because the entire file will need to be color coded. Although, once that's done, you shouldn't have any large delays. Turning back on color coding also turns back on smart indenting/editing features. With some languages, this can slow down certain keys (enter,tab) but it doesn't appear to effect SQL performance.

After I increased the "Tools>Options>Editing>General>Use Plain Text mode when file larger than (KB)", I needed to use Document>Select Mode... to set the language mode to SQL. SlickEdit sometimes remembers what the language mode was used for previously editing files.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2021, 04:28:00 PM by Clark »

Clark

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Re: Node.js debugger, Dockerfile, Schemastore
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2021, 05:32:34 PM »
v26 beta 2 seems to have a problem with editing a large SQL file. It's fixed in beta 3. I initially didn't see it because I was running the latest debug dev version of v26. 25.0.2 works fine though.

Clark

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Re: Node.js debugger, Dockerfile, Schemastore
« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2021, 05:57:27 PM »
Note that BBEdit loads your entire file into memory (check application memory foot print before and after). SlickEdit only uses ~2 megabytes for editing purposes. You can increase this SlickEdit's virtual memory size  "(Tools>Options>Application Options>Virtual Memory>Buffer cache size (MB)). However, unless the entire file fits in SlickEdit's buffer cache, you typically won't see significant speed improvements. You typically only see significant speed improvements for large edit operations which would otherwise require modified data to be spilled to disk (i.e massive search and replace with tons of replaces).

meenedit

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Re: Node.js debugger, Dockerfile, Schemastore
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2021, 10:26:16 AM »
Thank you very much for your reply.

To be honest: I forgot to check the setting for plain text mode and syntax coloring. Thank you very much for your hint! However, I can confirm your experience with editing large SQL files in beta 2.

Yeah, that's very cool, and I wasn't aware of such a tiny memory footprint! I did some very simple tests with loading big files in other editors I use. I use no other product that can handle large files as conveniently as SlickEdit.

I stay hopeful that one of the next beta releases containing a Node.js debugger integration. Thank you very much for your excellent work with SlickEdit.