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Bluefish Editor VS Vim

Compare Bluefish Editor VS Vim and see what are their differences

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Bluefish Editor logo Bluefish Editor

Home of the Bluefish Editor, a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners. It supports working with local and remote files, syntax highlighting and a WYSIWYN interface.

Vim logo Vim

Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing
  • Bluefish Editor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-19
  • Vim Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-23

Bluefish Editor features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Bluefish Editor is known for being lightweight, which means it consumes relatively low system resources and performs efficiently even on older hardware.
  • Fast Performance
    The editor offers rapid performance and quick loading times, making it ideal for handling large files and complex projects without slowing down.
  • Syntax Highlighting
    Bluefish supports syntax highlighting for a wide range of programming and markup languages, improving readability and aiding in debugging and development.
  • Multiple Platforms
    Bluefish is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS, providing a consistent development environment across different operating systems.
  • Powerful Search and Replace
    The editor offers robust search and replace functionalities, including support for regular expressions, enabling efficient code manipulation.
  • Integrated Development Tools
    Bluefish includes built-in tools and features that facilitate web development, such as project management, auto-completion, and error detection.
  • Free and Open Source
    As a free and open-source software, Bluefish allows users to contribute to its development and customize the editor according to their needs without any cost.

Possible disadvantages of Bluefish Editor

  • User Interface
    The user interface of Bluefish is somewhat dated and not as polished as some other modern code editors, which might deter users who prioritize aesthetics.
  • Learning Curve
    For beginners, Bluefish may have a steep learning curve due to its extensive range of features and customizable options, which can be overwhelming initially.
  • Limited Plugin Ecosystem
    Compared to more popular editors like Visual Studio Code or Sublime Text, Bluefish has a more limited plugin ecosystem, reducing the ability to extend its functionality.
  • No Integrated Version Control
    Bluefish lacks integrated version control support (e.g., Git), requiring users to use external tools for version management, which can be inconvenient.
  • Fewer Collaboration Features
    The editor does not have built-in features for real-time collaboration or pair programming, which some modern IDEs and editors offer.
  • Less Frequent Updates
    Updates and new feature releases for Bluefish are less frequent compared to some other popular editors, potentially leading to slower adaptation of new technologies.

Vim features and specs

  • Efficiency
    Once learned, Vim can significantly speed up text editing with its modal editing, keyboard shortcuts, and commands that allow for quick navigation and manipulation of text.
  • Lightweight
    Vim is a very lightweight editor, consuming minimal system resources, making it highly performant even on systems with lower specifications.
  • Customizability
    Vim is highly configurable and extensible through plugins and user-defined settings, allowing users to tailor the editor to their specific needs.
  • Ubiquity
    Vim is available on almost every Unix-like system and even on Windows, making it a ubiquitous tool that you can rely on being available in most environments.
  • Support for Multiple Programming Languages
    Vim supports a wide range of programming languages out of the box and offers syntax highlighting, which can be enhanced through plugins.
  • Powerful Search and Replace
    Vim offers robust searching and replacing functionalities, including support for regular expressions, which can be a powerful tool for developers.

Possible disadvantages of Vim

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Vim's modal editing and extensive set of commands can be daunting for new users, requiring significant time and effort to master.
  • Minimal Default Config
    The default configuration of Vim is quite minimalistic, which may necessitate additional setup and customization to meet modern development needs.
  • Limited GUI
    Vim primarily operates in a terminal, and while there are graphical variants like GVim, they are not as feature-rich or user-friendly as modern GUI editors.
  • Plugin Management
    While Vim is highly extensible, managing and configuring plugins can be cumbersome compared to more modern editors that offer integrated plugin management.
  • Inconsistent Behavior Across Platforms
    There may be inconsistencies in behavior or available features of Vim across different operating systems, which can complicate its use in certain environments.
  • Lack of Integrated Modern Features
    Vim lacks some modern IDE features like integrated debugging, advanced code introspection, and refined autocompletion, which often require third-party plugins to achieve.

Analysis of Bluefish Editor

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Bluefish Editor is a good choice for web developers who need a fast, reliable, and customizable editor. Its extensive features make it an excellent tool for both beginners and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • Bluefish Editor is a popular choice for web developers due to its lightweight yet feature-rich design. It offers syntax highlighting, code folding, and powerful search and replace options. It is also known for its fast performance and efficiency, making it suitable for handling large project files. Additionally, Bluefish is open-source and available across various platforms, which broadens its accessibility.

Recommended for

    Bluefish Editor is recommended for web developers, programmers who work with HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and other web technologies, and users who prefer a lightweight yet powerful code editor with extensive customization options.

Analysis of Vim

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Vim is a good text editor, especially for users who invest the time to learn its powerful commands and features. Its steep learning curve may be challenging initially, but once mastered, it significantly enhances productivity.

Why this product is good

  • Vim is considered a powerful text editor because of its efficiency and versatility. It offers extensive features, such as syntax highlighting, a robust plugin system, and support for numerous programming languages. Vim is highly configurable, enabling users to customize its environment to fit their needs. It is particularly appreciated for its speed and the ability to perform complex text manipulations using simple commands.

Recommended for

    Vim is recommended for programmers, developers, and system administrators who require a highly efficient and customizable text editing experience. It is especially useful for those who work extensively in terminal environments or need a quick, resource-light text editor for remote systems.

Bluefish Editor videos

Replacing Dreamweaver with Bluefish Editor

More videos:

  • Review - A quick look at Bluefish Editor
  • Review - Ojambo - Review Bluefish Editor (vs 0014)

Vim videos

What Vim Is and Why You Should Learn It

More videos:

  • Review - JAC Vapour VIM Review - JAC does a side by side mod...
  • Review - Jac Vapour VIM - Quick Look

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Bluefish Editor and Vim)
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Text Editors
8 8%
92% 92
IDE
7 7%
93% 93
Software Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Bluefish Editor and Vim

Bluefish Editor Reviews

Top 8 Dreamweaver Alternatives for Web Designers
Bluefish is yet another open-sourced tool for building web pages in matter of seconds. You can use this superb tool in your Windows or Mac or Linux powered devices, and the tool would do its job very well! Even though you cannot use the power of WYSIWYG Editing in the tool, additional features such as the support for Google Go, Ruby etc, FTP support, spell-checker, preview...
Source: xtendedview.com

Vim Reviews

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Vim offers a variety of features like split windows, macros, and extensive customization options. It has a steep learning curve, but once you master it, you’ll be amazed at the speed and productivity it brings to your coding workflow. Vim is a favorite among experienced developers who value speed and efficiency above all else.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
It’s tough to say which developers would enjoy Vim as a text editor. It’s an old system with an outdated interface. Yet, it still has the charm and powerful feature-set that the average developer needs. I would recommend it to more advanced developers who enjoy using open source software and being a part of a community–like the one you can find behind Vim.
Source: kinsta.com
12 Best LaTeX Editors You Should Use
The entire installation process is perfectly documented on their Sourceforge page, which you must definitely pay a visit. There is another standalone Vim software, known as the gVim that brings a GUI-based interface to the Vim document editor. Vim-LaTeX has been developed specifically for the programmers and it is so highly configurable that it can function anyway, ranging...
Source: beebom.com
The Top 7 Notepad++ Alternatives for You
Vim is a totally free Notepad++ alternative. It is available to use on Windows, Mac and Linux computers and it is very powerful. I was able to customize Vim to get it to look and function just how I want it. There is really good help support with Vim so if you are new to programming it will get you through most issues.
10 Best Notepad++ Alternatives in 2020
Vim is an advanced text editor open source tool which is also considered to be an IDE in its way. This tool allows managing your text editing activities with vim editors and UNIX System which can be used on-premise or online.
Source: www.guru99.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Vim seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 10 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Bluefish Editor mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Bluefish Editor yet. Tracking of Bluefish Editor recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Vim mentions (10)

  • regular Vim has lua?!
    Lua is quite small, encouraging distros to include it. The ubuntu gvim has, and the gvim AppImage linked from vim.org does. The default Makefile from github is set up to not include it, but you can uncomment one line there to get it. Source: over 2 years ago
  • is there a way to make highlighted text persistent after quit when using something like [match Search /\%'.line('.').'l/] ?
    I've not used vimwiki locally (tho I'm old enough to remember the Vim wiki on vim.org :), but I think what you are wanting to do is extend vimwiki's syntax file. I presume it installs one at $VIMRUNTIM/syntax or or ~/.vim/syntax. If this sounds right, then create a ~/.vim/after/syntax/vimwiki.vim file and place your match command in there. Then everytime you open a vimwiki file it should apply your... Source: over 2 years ago
  • vim.org - Is there a reason for this 1800s-esque design?
    Vim.org has 242k total visitors, tailwindcss.com has 4.4m, planetscale.com has 412k, jpl.nasa.gov has 2.6m, all built with Tailwind, all several years younger than Vim's website. Unnecessary comparison, unnecessary defence. It's a valuable tool, fine, but a complete disregard for anyone who doesn't love a crappy website and would like to navigate a website like a normal human is not something to be defended. Maybe... Source: over 2 years ago
  • What is YOUR process of writing ?
    I write in Vim with some customizations in my vimrc to gear it more towards prose writing than code editing. It's not pretty, but Normal Mode and Ex commands are the most powerful text editing tools out there, so that means I spend less time on making corrections and other edits. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Why developers need to know about Vim
    If you are open minded and would like to try it out, click me for more information! Cheers. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Bluefish Editor and Vim, you can also consider the following products

Nova Code Editor - Nova Code Editor is software that is used for writing and editing codes.

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

Google Web Designer - Google Web Designer is a free, professional-grade HTML5 authoring tool. Build interactive, animated HTML5 creative, no coding necessary.

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

SquareSpace - Squarespace is the easiest way for anyone to create an exceptional website. Pages, galleries, blogs, e-commerce, domains, hosting, analytics, 24/7 support - all included.

Notepad++ - A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.